ACCUSED IN “CAMEROON” CASE AGREES TO PLEA GUILTY OF SMUGGLING MIGRANTS

A sentence of 13 months in prison, as well as confiscation of illegal property gain in the amount of €5,000, proposed for the accused.

The accused Jackson Ndip, born in 1968 in Cameroon, residing in France where he is undergoing the asylum procedure, in the presence of his defence counsel, fully pleaded guilty to the criminal offence of Smuggling of Persons and Organising a Group or Association for Smuggling Migrants under Articles 189 and 189a of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Pursuant to the agreement, the accused, who is remanded in custody, a sentence of 13 months in prison, as well as confiscation of illegal property in the amount of €5,000 is proposed for the accused.

In addition, the travel documents of the Republic of France, which were issued in the names of other persons, and the travel documents of Cameroon, which were used during the attempt to smuggle Cameroonian citizens through Bosnia and Herzegovina further to EU countries, will be confiscated from the accused.

The proposed sentence is in accordance with the role and responsibility of the accused in the commission of this criminal offence.

By signing the agreement, the accused waives his right to a trial and the right to appeal the judgment, which is to be imposed on him by the Court of BiH on the basis of the agreement.

The accused Jackson Ndip was discovered and prosecuted when the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, together with partner police and security agencies, carried out an operation codenamed “Cameroon” against persons suspected of misusing other peoples’ personal documents of the Republic of France to organise the smuggling of illegal migrants, in which they were discovered and prevented in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The agreement was forwarded to the Court of BiH.