CUSTODY PROPOSED FOR TERRORISM SUSPECT

Custody has been proposed for the suspect Jahja Vuković (1999), due to the existence of all custody reasons stipulated in Article 132 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Having questioned the suspect, a Prosecutor from the Section for Terrorism within the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina put forward a motion seeking custody to be ordered in regard of the following suspect:

-          Jahja Vuković, born in 1999 in Bihać, who was extradited to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 October 2020 and is currently remanded in custody.

The suspect is under investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and he is charged with having travelled to Syria in 2014 and joined the formations of the “Al Nusra Front” terrorist organization, which was declared a terrorist organization by the UN Security Council, where he remained until 2019, after which he hid in the territory of the Republic of Turkey, where he was located, deprived of liberty and extradited to the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Custody has been proposed for the reasons described in Article 132, paragraph 1, items a), b), c) and d) of the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Prosecutor has estimated that only the measure of custody against the suspect Jahja Vuković can preclude the possibility of flight and pre-empt influence on witnesses, accessories and accomplices, as well as prevent the destruction, hiding, altering or falsifying evidence or clues important for criminal proceedings, and also thwart the possibility of repeating the execution of the criminal offence and protect public order and the safety of citizens.

The motion has been sent to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.