PERSONS ACCUSED OF ILLICIT INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING IN NARCOTIC DRUGS AND WEAPONS SIGN PLEA AGREEMENTS AND GET FINED AND SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS AND THREE MONTHS OF PRISON

In a case conducted by the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, five accused persons pleaded guilty and signed Plea Agreements, after which they were sentenced by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Plea Agreements were signed by the following accused persons:

• Admir Jakupović (1980), and he was sentenced to three (3) years of imprisonment;
• Ermin Ljumić (1989), and he was sentenced to two (2) years and three (3) months of imprisonment;
• Mirza Serdarević (1980), and he was sentenced to one (1) year of imprisonment as a principal punishment, and a fine in the amount of BAM 15,000 as an accessory punishment;
• Melir Hodžić (1990), and he was sentenced to one (1) year of imprisonment as a principal punishment, and a fine in the amount of BAM 1,000 as an accessory punishment;
• Al Rijad Fazlić (1991), and he was sentenced to one (1) year of imprisonment as a principal punishment, and a fine in the amount of BAM 1,000 as an accessory punishment.

The aforementioned accused persons were found guilty of the criminal offense of Organized Crime, referred to in Article 250 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in conjunction with the criminal offense of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs, referred to in Article 195 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Additionally, the accused Ermin Ljumić and Admir Jakupović were also found guilty of the criminal offense of Illicit Trafficking in Arms and Military Equipment and Products of Dual Use, referred to in Article 193 of the same Code.

The aforementioned accused persons pleaded guilty to illicitly trafficking narcotic drugs and arms and military equipment, while they were members of an organized crime group which operated on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad, for which trafficking they did not have authorization prescribed by the law of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
 
The proposed sentences are consistent with the roles and responsibilities of these accused persons in the perpetration of the said criminal offences.
By signing Plea Agreements, the aforementioned accused persons waived their right to a trial and the right to file an appeal against the Judgment handed down against them by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the basis of their Plea Agreements.

The Plea Agreements were forwarded to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina subsequently accepted those Plea Agreements and handed down sentences in regard to the aforementioned accused persons.

Following the acceptance of these Plea Agreements, a final and binding Judgment was rendered against the said accused persons in this case, and the case was thus finalized without the need to conduct further court proceedings.