ZAGREB, 19 May, 2021 - Justice and Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica announced on Wednesday that he would meet with his Bosnian counterpart early next month to discuss amending the bilateral agreement that regulates enforcement of prison sentences.
His announcement came after former Dinamo Zagreb coach Zoran Mamić was arrested in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday morning on a Croatian warrant.
Malenica said that the Croatian Ministry of Justice and Administration would prepare documentation to support the extradition request and that the competent court in Bosnia and Herzegovina would decide whether the criteria for Mamić's extradition to Croatia were met.
"It is for the competent court to establish all the facts based on the law on international judicial assistance in criminal matters and the bilateral agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina," Malenica told a press conference in Zagreb.
Asked if he expected the same scenario as for Zoran's brother Zdravko Mamić, whose extradition had been rejected, Malenica would not speculate, saying that the matter would be decided by the competent court in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Malenica said he had talked with Bosnia and Herzegovina's justice minister and that they would meet at the start of June to discuss launching the procedure to amend the bilateral agreement.
Zoran Mamić has been sentenced in Croatia to four years and eight months in prison for siphoning funds from the Dinamo Zagreb football club. He was arrested in Međugorje, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday morning and handed over to the State Court which will decide on Croatia's extradition request.
Mamić has confirmed earlier that he holds dual Croatian and Bosnian citizenship and wants to serve the prison sentence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which the Croatian court has rejected.
The Bosnian State Court is expected to reject the extradition request on the ground that Mamić holds Bosnian citizenship.
As for the case of Zdravko Mamić, who also wants to serve his prison term in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malenica said that the Ministry had been notified by the Osijek County Court that the conditions under the law on international judicial assistance were not met and that the Ministry was acting accordingly
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