CUSTODY MOTION FOR THREE ORGANISED CRIME SUSPECTS

The prosecutor in charge, after interrogating the suspects, submitted to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina a motion to order into custody the following suspects in the operation codenamed ‘Paravan’ /Cover-up/:

1.     Zdravko Šagolj aka ‘Piske,’ born in 1956 in the town of Kostajnica, municipality of Konjic, residing in Mostar;

2.     Haris Alikadić, born in 1967 in Sarajevo, residing in Konjic

3.     Nedjeljko Dodig, born in 1977 in Čitluk, residing in Međugorje

The suspects were deprived of their liberty in the operation conducted by the State Investigation and Protection Agency - SIPA under the supervision of the prosecutor in charge.

They are under investigation and charged with organised crime related to the smuggling of the narcotic drug ‘cocaine’ and to the smuggling of weapons, explosives and military equipment.

During the operation, an amount of about 1 kilogram of the narcotic drug ‘cocaine’ was seized, as well as a certain amount of automatic weapons, pistols and ammunition. Evidence was collected that the suspects, on several occasions, carried out the smuggling and sale of the narcotic drug ‘cocaine,’ as well as weapons, the acquisition, circulation and possession of which are not allowed to citizens.

During the search of the premises used by the first suspect, various explosive devices and weapons, including grenades for hand-held rocket launchers, were found and seized.

The suspects are under investigation for the criminal offences of Organized crime set out in Article 250 (2), in conjunction with the criminal offence of Illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs set out in Article 195 (1) and the criminal offence of Illicit trafficking in weapons, military equipment and products of dual-use set out in Article 193 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The measure of ordering them into custody was proposed for the reasons described in Article 132 (1 (a), (b) and (c), that is, because of the risk of flight, the risk that the suspects could obstruct the investigation, conceal evidence, and influence witnesses or accomplices at large, as well as to repeat the criminal offence or complete the attempted one.

At the hearing in the courtroom regarding the motion, the prosecutor in charge provided a detailed reasoning for the custody measure.