MOTION FOR ORDERING THREE CITIZENS OF MONTENEGRO SUSPECTED OF SMUGGLING ILLEGAL MIGRANTS INTO CUSTODY

The suspects were deprived of their liberty within an operation of the Border Police of BiH, in the area of Tjentište, and are charged with the organised smuggling of illegal migrants from Pakistan and Nepal, who they smuggled from Montenegro to BiH.

After questioning the suspects, a prosecutor of the Special Department for Organised Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH filed a motion with the Court of BiH that the following suspects be ordered into custody:

1. Ivan Goranović, born in 1996 in Nikšić, citizen of Montenegro

2. Marko Samardžić, born in 1986 in Podgorica, citizen of Montenegro

3. Zilhad Rastoder, born in 1983 in Rožaje, citizen of Montenegro.

The suspects were deprived of their liberty within the operation of the Central Investigation Office of the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina and are suspected that they, acting in an organised manner, jointly and in concert, had taken over several illegal migrants - citizens of Pakistan and Nepal, from Montenegro, smuggled them to BiH outside border crossings points and continued to transport them further inland where they were discovered and prevented by members of the BiH Border Police in the territory of Tjentište.

The suspects transported a total of eight illegal migrants with whom they had agreed on monetary compensation as material gain for the commission of the criminal offence. They transported the migrants in two vehicles operated by the suspects while the first suspect, acting as the so-called “cleaner”, went in front of them in a vehicle and informed them of possible police controls and patrols on the road.

The custody measure for the suspects was moved for the reasons set out in Article 132 (a) and (b) of the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH, that is, because of the risk the suspects might flee, as all three of them are citizens of Montenegro and if they leave BiH, they might become inaccessible to justice, as well as because of the risk that they, if at large, might conceal evidence and exert influence on witnesses or accomplices.

In the past months, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, police agencies and law enforcement agencies have detected an increased number of criminal offenses related to the smuggling of illegal migrants across the territory of BiH.