CUSTODY PROPOSED AGAINST FOUR FOREIGN CITIZENS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY IN JOINT OPERATION OF SIPA AND BIH BORDER POLICE

Having questioned the suspects deprived of liberty in a  joint operation of the State Investigation and Protection Agency - SIPA and the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the area of Donji Svilaj where an improvised migrant camp was discovered, and weapons and ammunition were found, the prosecutor in charge of the case put forward a Motion with the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, seeking custody for the following suspects:

1.      Basir Waziri, born in 1992 in Ningrahar, Afghanistan, a citizen of Afghanistan, previously convicted of drug abuse in Subotica, Serbia, with a sentence of six months in prison

2.      Nisar Ahmad, born in 2005 in Kabul, Afghanistan, a citizen of Afghanistan,

3.      Bilal Afghan, born in 2003 in Qunduz, Afghanistan, a citizen of Afghanistan,

4.      Abdul Qayoom Faqiri, born in 1994 in Jous Jan, Afghanistan, a citizen of Afghanistan

The aforementioned suspects are under investigation for the criminal offence of Associating for the Purpose of Perpetrating Criminal Offences, referred to in Article 249 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the criminal offence of Illicit Trafficking in Arms and Military Equipment and Products of Dual Use, referred to in Article 193 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to the collected evidence, the migrants were staying in an improvised camp located in the immediate vicinity of the state border with the Republic of Croatia, near the International Border Crossing of Donji Svilaj, in Odžak municipality, and their intention was to smuggle the said firearms and ammunition into the Republic of Croatia.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, SIPA, Border Police and partner police and security agencies are carrying out investigative activities in order to determine all the circumstances of the stay of these armed migrants in the area near the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, because in the previous activities of the law enforcement agencies, armed members of migrant population, and particularly those in possession of  automatic weapons and ammunition, were generally not recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The motion of custody due to the danger of the suspects’ flight was forwarded to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.