-      ZORAN RAPIĆ, born in 1959 in Gradiška, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina,

-      SRĐAN RAPIĆ, born in 1994 in Gradiška, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina,

-      ZORAN KRESOJEVIĆ, born in 1971 in Gradiška, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and

-      MLADEN KARAN, born in 1985 in Gradiška, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

These accused persons are charged with mediating, intentionally and guided by a mutual interest, in the international trafficking in arms, without the license prescribed by the Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the second half of 2015 until the beginning of 2016, in an agreement with one person from the Kingdom of Sweden and for the purpose of acquiring unlawful property gain, as they were procuring, keeping and selling a larger quantity of firearms and ammunition without an authorization obtained, which is strictly forbidden by law for citizens.

These accused persons are charged with an illegal procurement and repurchase of a larger quantity of arms, ammunition, mines and explosives, automatic rifles included, on several occasions and as previously agreed with a person from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina residing in the territory of the Kingdom of Sweden, to whom they were selling those arms for a pre-agreed sum of money. The aforementioned person was taking over the arms in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina so that those arms could be smuggled through illegal channels to the territory of the Kingdom of Sweden and sold in an illegal arms market and used for the perpetration of criminal offences.

According to the allegations in the Indictment, during the search of the houses of the accused Zoran and Srđan Rapić and Zoran Kresojević, respectively, a larger quantity of arms and mines and explosives was found and seized, including the following: rifles and pistols of reputable manufacturers with accompanying equipment, ammunition of various calibres, hand grenades and launchers, mines, as well as military knives.

These accused persons are charged with the commission of the criminal offense of Illegal Manufacturing and Trade of Weapons or Explosive Substances, as referred to in Article 399 of the Criminal Code of Republika Srpska, whereas the accused Zoran and Srđan Rapić are also charged with the criminal offense of Illicit Trafficking in Arms and Military Equipment and Products of Dual Use, as referred to in Article 193 in conjunction with Article 54 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Indictment has been forwarded to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for confirmation.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its partner agencies in several countries are working intensively on detection, prevention and criminal prosecution of persons engaged in smuggling of arms left over from the previous war in Bosnia and Herzegovina towards EU countries.