Zagreb's Scout continues seizures: 26 cannons and 3.3 million bullets seized from Armed Forces barracks in Tuzla!

Croatian company Scout seized 26 ZIS cannons and 3.3 million 7.62 caliber bullets from the BiH Armed Forces barracks in Kozlovac near Tuzla on Thursday, Istraga.ba has learned.

The cannons and ammunition were seized based on a Conclusion of the Municipal Court in Tuzla, which effectively ordered the seizure of weapons to comply with an earlier verdict of the Court of BiH in the Scout v. Ministry of Defense of BiH case.

“The execution of compulsory enforcement is set for 30.11. on-site in Tuzla, HKG Barracks and Kozlovac weapons and ammunition depot. Compulsory enforcement will be carried out by handing over to the enforcement applicant (Scout) possession of interchangeable movable property – 76 mm M 42 ZIS cannon, 26 units, and ammunition – 7.62 x 39 caliber bullet, ordinary combat rounds in the quantity of 3,386,115 units,” stated the document of the Municipal Court in Tuzla.

This is, in fact, a continuation of the seizure of weapons and ammunition, mostly from barracks located in cantons where the Bosniak population predominantly lives.

Let us recall that in August of this year, large quantities of weapons were removed from the barracks in Bihać and transferred to Croatia. These were also cannons, as well as other weapons. Officials of the Una-Sana Canton reacted at the time.

“Given that weapons are being withdrawn in large quantities from the said barracks, citizens have pointed out that it reminds them of the principle of withdrawing weapons from barracks in BiH in the early nineties, and we all know that was the beginning of a scenario that ended with genocide in Srebrenica and an attempt to exterminate Bosniaks in other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We cannot ignore the fact that the territorial integrity and sovereignty of BiH are under constant attack from secessionist policies and that Bosniaks are openly threatened with a new genocide. If we take into account numerous examples of attacks on the state of BiH and Bosniaks, including the most recent case of brutal beating of a minor in Osmaci, a returnee to Republika Srpska, we cannot remain blind, deaf, and mute to the news of weapons being withdrawn from BiH under mysterious circumstances. Therefore, we have requested clarification from state institutions as to why such a quantity of armament is being withdrawn from the ‘Adil Bešić’ barracks in Bihać and exported from BiH, by whose order, and under whose control,” stated the Prime Minister of the Una-Sana Canton, Mustafa Ružnić, in August.

The BiH Minister of Defense, Zukan Helez, also reacted at the time, explaining why these weapons were being exported.

“The reason for transferring the weapons is a court order to finally realize an old sales contract from 25 years ago. The company ‘Scout’ bought it in 1998, long before me, and after that, an annex to the contract was made with Selma Cikotić when he was minister. We submitted it to the court, and the court confirmed that we have to give it. Expert Berko Zečević accurately determined what needs to be given so that we don't accidentally take something that shouldn't be taken. This is Russian armament and equipment, which we must get rid of if we want to join NATO. We need to import weapons compatible with their standards. Likewise, after a few years, if we don't get rid of it, its expiration date passes, just like food and medicine. In that case, we have to destroy it, and not only do we get nothing out of it, but we also pay for it to be done,” Helez said in August this year.

Former Minister of Defense, Selma Cikotić, is currently on trial for the Scout case. The Court of BiH is expected to deliver its first-instance verdict in this case on Tuesday.

The indictment charges Cikotić with abusing his official position and favoring the company “Scout” from Zagreb between 2009 and 2011, in agreement with other persons, for the purpose of obtaining benefits.

As stated, Cikotić, contrary to the Agreement on Final Disposal of All Rights and Obligations over Movable Property from 2008 and the decisions of the Presidency of BiH, made and signed two decisions on approving the delivery, i.e., exchange of goods, and four decisions on the delivery of ammunition. According to the indictment, he concluded four annexes to the basic contracts for the sale of non-perspective armaments and ammunition concluded in 2003 and 2004.