CUSTODY PROPOSED AGAINST THE TWO SUSPECTS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY IN THE ‘JOKER’ POLICE ACTION

A Prosecutor of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has put forward a Motion for Custody with the Court of BiH against the following suspects:

- Adin Subašić, born on 13 February 1968 in Sarajevo, where he also resides, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and

- Džemal Škrijelj aka Džemo aka Džemko, born on 06 January 1979 in Tutin, in the Republic of Serbia, resident of Sarajevo, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The aforementioned suspects, for whom the custody has been requested, were deprived of liberty on 26 March 2014 by authorized police officers of SIPA and they were subsequently handed over to the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH within the statutory time limit.

These suspects are charged with the commission of the criminal offense of Organized Crime, in conjunction with the criminal offenses of Customs Fraud, Smuggling of Goods, Tax Evasion or Fraud, Accepting Gifts and Other Forms of Benefits, Giving Gifts and Other Forms of Benefits, Illegal Interceding, Abuse of Office or Official Authority and Money Laundering, as referred to in the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

They are suspected of acting as a group for organized crime, Subašić being its organizer and Škrijelj being its member, and perpetrating several criminal offenses under the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by carrying out precisely specified tasks, both individually and jointly within that group; by acting in that manner, they were performing container imports of textile and other goods from the People's Republic of China to Bosnia and Herzegovina in an organized way and thus committing a series of unlawful actions related to tax and customs evasions, thereby damaging the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the amount of several hundred thousand Convertible Marks (BAM).  

Having questioned the suspects, the Prosecutor in charge of this case has put forward a Motion with the Court of BiH seeking custody for reasons stipulated in Article 132, Paragraph 1, Item (b) of the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina with respect to the suspect Adin Subašić, and for reasons stipulated in Article 132, Paragraph 1, Items (a) and (b) of the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina with respect to the suspect Džemal Škrijelj.

Inter alia, the measure of custody has been proposed due to a grounded suspicion that the suspects, if at large, might destroy or conceal evidence or clues important to the criminal proceedings in order to hinder or prevent the conduct of the criminal proceedings against them, or that they might exert influence on witnesses, accessories or accomplices, whereas custody against Džemal Škrijelj has been requested for an additional reason, namely the risk of flight.

The Motion for Custody has been forwarded to the Court of BiH, and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH resumes its investigation in this case.