Bosnian Charged with Fighting for Syria Terror Groups

Muharem Dunić. Source: BIRN BiH

The prosecution charged Dunic with leaving Austria with his wife in 2014 and travelling to Turkey, illegally crossing the Syrian border and joined paramilitary formations which operated as part of the structures of the so-called Islamic State, which the United Nations has declared to be a terrorist organisation.

“Through the investigation, it was determined that the defendant took part in combat activities which represented grave violations of international humanitarian law, with the aim of establishing a so-called Islamic State caliphate on the territory of the two war-affected states,” the prosecution said in a statement.

It said that after the defeat of Islamic State, Dunic was captured in early 2019 by Kurdish forces in Syria, and at the end of the year, he was deported to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he was arrested. He has been held in custody since then.

The prosecution accuses him of “illegally forming and joining foreign paramilitary or parapolice formations”.

Dunic was flown back to Bosnia and Herzegovina alongside Jasmin Keserovic, Armen Dzelko, Senad Kasupovic, Hamza Labidi, Emir Alisic and Milarem Berbic, who are also suspected of fighting for Islamic State in Syria.

The trials of Keserovic, Kasupovic and Dzelko have begun, while indictments charging Alisic, Berbic and Labidi have been confirmed by the state court.

The Dunic indictment has been filed to the state court for confirmation.