Prosecutor's Office of BiH seeks pre-trial detention for BiH Border Police officer Matović and Predrag Petković for drug trafficking and corruption

(Patria) - After questioning the suspects, a prosecutor from the Sky team of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH sent a proposal to the Court of BiH to order pre-trial detention for the suspects: Aleksandar Matović aka "Aco", born in 1977 in Foča, employed as an active police officer of the BiH Border Police, a citizen of BiH, and Predrag Petković, aka "Peđa", born in 1987 in Banja Luka, a citizen of BiH and the Republic of Serbia.

The suspects were deprived of their liberty in an operation carried out by police officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, on the orders of the prosecutor, in the areas of Sarajevo, Foča, and Gradiška.

The proposal for detention was sent for reasons described in Article 132, points 1, paragraphs a), b), and c) of the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH, namely the danger that the suspects might obstruct the investigation, conceal evidence, or influence witnesses or accomplices if they remain at liberty, as well as commit the criminal offense again or complete the one started, and for the suspect Petković, also due to the risk of him fleeing.

The suspects are under investigation for organized crime offenses related to the illegal international trafficking of larger quantities of narcotic drugs and their distribution on the illegal drug market.
Furthermore, the suspect Matović is also charged with a corruption offense, namely the abuse of the capacities of the BiH Border Police, for providing assistance to criminal individuals by issuing false certificates of crossing the state border and in other ways.

One of the suspects in this case is located in Denmark and will be taken over at Sarajevo Airport upon his return to BiH in the coming days and handed over to the acting prosecutor.