INDICTMENT ISSUED AGAINST THREE PERSONS FOR ORGANISED SMUGGLING OF ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

Two accused nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina and one accused national of Egypt are charged with organized smuggling of migrants, nationals of Egypt, through Bosnia and Herzegovina towards Croatia and EU countries.

 

Prosecutor of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption has issued an Indictment against the following persons:

 

1. Ahmed Ghabir Mahmud Fethallah, born in 1991 in Egypt, a national of Egypt, who is currently remanded in custody 2. Alan Duraković, born in 1997 in Bihać, a national of Bosnia and Herzegovina 3. Amir Bakrač, born in 1997 in Bihać, a national of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

These accused persons are charged with organizing, as members of an organized group formed for the purpose of committing the criminal offense of Smuggling of Persons, in order to obtain unlawful material gain, the smuggling of illegal migrants from the territory of Egypt, who were staying in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the aim of transporting them to the territory of the Republic of Croatia and EU countries, which is contrary to Article 6 of the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and in violation of the applicable laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

The indictment alleges that, according to their previously agreed roles, the accused persons engaged themselves in the smuggling and transportation of a group of at least fifteen (15) Egyptian nationals who were illegally staying in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they drove those illegal migrants from the Bihać area to the river border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia on the Sava River, where they provided rubber boats for them with the intention of transferring them to the Republic of Croatia and thus to the EU territory.

 

These accused persons were prevented from doing so by the Republika Srpska Ministry of the Interior, who detected them and deprived them of liberty, whereas the illegal migrants from Egypt were found on the riverbank.

 

These accused persons are charged with the commission of the criminal offence of Organising a Group or an Association for the Purpose of Perpetration of the Criminal Offences of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants, referred to in Article 189a of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in conjunction with the criminal offense of Smuggling of Persons referred to in Article 189 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

The Indictment has been forwarded to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for confirmation.