ZAGREB, June 11, 2019 - The State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday rejected a request by Croatian authorities for the extradition and custody of former Dinamo football club mogul Zdravko Mamić after an international arrest warrant was issued for him.
The court, however, ordered that Mamić's travel documents be confiscated and that he be prohibited from leaving the country.
After a hearing, Mamić told reporters that the entire affair was politically motivated against him.
Mamić's Bosnian defence attorney, Zdravko Rajić, said that his client has Bosnia and Herzegovina citizenship and that he objects to being extradited to Croatia. "I don't want to forecast what will happen... It needs to be determined whether he was given a fair trial in Croatia. Mamić did not take one lipa nor one kuna from Croatia. There is no tax evasion, there isn't anything," Rajić told reporters.
According to procedure, the Bosnian State Court could have ruled for Mamić to be put in extradition custody pursuant to the international arrest warrant, but it did not do so. Croatia's Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković will have to send a request for Mamić's extradition and the Bosnian authorities will then take a position.
The next step requires the Bosnian State Court to determine the merit of the Croatian authorities' extradition request based on Mamić's criminal trial at Osijek County Court.
On 7 June, Osijek County Court ordered that a warrant be issued for the arrest of former Dinamo football club mogul Zdravko Mamić after the court on May 21 set investigative custody for Mamić. On May 21, that county court upheld a second indictment which the Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) filed against Mamić and six other people, charging them with defrauding Dinamo of HRK 200 million. Investigative custody was set for Mamić on the same day.
In June 2018 Mamić was convicted, pending appeal, to six and a half years in jail for siphoning around HRK 116 million from Dinamo. Just before the verdict was handed down, Mamić, who also holds Bosnia and Herzegovina citizenship, fled to that country.
More news about Zdravko Mamić can be found in the Sports section.
