INDICTMENT ISSUED AGAINST TWO AFGHAN CITIZENS FOR SMUGGLING MIGRANTS FROM SERBIA TO BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The accused are charged with organising and carrying out the smuggling of a large group of migrants by boat across the water border on the river Drina, near Zvornik.

A prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has filed an indictment against:

1.        Kamran Zakhil, born in Kabul, Afghanistan, a citizen of Afghanistan, in custody,

2.        Darwish Zainullah, born in Jala Abat, Afghanistan, a citizen of Afghanistan, in custody.

The accused are charged with organising, facilitating and personally taking part in the smuggling of a large group of illegal migrants from the Republic of Serbia across the water border on the Drina River to the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, acting jointly and in agreement to acquire illegal property gain.

The indictment alleges that the accused acted contrary to Article 6 of the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, which supplements the United Nations Convention against Transnational and Organised Crime, and that on 23 April this year they transported a group of 11 illegal migrants by boat from Serbia to BiH, in the area of Kozluk, Zvornik municipality, at a time of reduced visibility at night, exposing them to security and drowning hazards, after which the police BiH Border Police officers, discovered them and deprived them of their freedom.

The group of the illegal migrants comprised of the citizens of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, Eritrea and Togo, who did not have documents for legal entry and stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they were handed over to the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs of BiH.

The accused are charged with transporting smuggled persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina in a manner that endangers the life and safety of the smuggled persons, thus enabling them to stay in BiH, whereby they committed the criminal offence of Smuggling of persons under Article 189 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The indictment has been forwarded to the Court of BiH for confirmation.