Bosnian Syria Fighter Convicted of Arms Possession
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Ilustracija. Foto: BIRN BiH
The prosecution of Zenica-Doboj Canton said that the Municipal Court in Zenica originally sentenced Tutmic in February 2020 to a year and a half in prison for illegal possession of arms or explosive substances.
“The defendant’s defence attorney filed an appeal against the judgment. The Cantonal Court in Zenica handed down a verdict, rejecting the appeal as unfounded, thus confirming the Zenica Municipal Court’s verdict,” said Zenica-Doboj Cantonal Prosecution’s spokesperson Mirna Poljac.
The indictment claimed that in August 2016 Tutmic kept a Kalashnikov automatic rifle and more than 800 pieces of ammunition for rifles, a hand-held mortar and four grenades, ten electronic detonating caps, seven safety fuses, several exploding bullets, a hand grenade and ammunition boxes inside a house in the village of Orahovica.
According to the indictment, the arms and ammunition were found and confiscated in mid-August 2016 by officers of the Police Administration from Zenica during a search of the facilities by order of the Municipal Court.
In May 2017, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced Tutmic in a second-instance verdict to four years’ imprisonment for having travelled by car via Serbia to Turkey on July 17, 2013 and then illegally crossed the Syrian border with the intention to fight for so-called Islamic State.
He remained in Syria until August 11, 2014, after which he flew back to Bosnia.
Tutmic was originally accused in the ‘Damascus’ case alongside Enes Mesic and others for organising a terrorist group, but went on the run for 14 months.
A warrant was issued for his arrest as he failed to answer several summons to appear before the Bosnian State Court and enter his plea. He was arrested in November 2016.
During the trial before the Bosnian State Court for fighting in Syria, witnesses said that while on the run, Tutmic was amassing weapons and ammunition.
