Bosnia Frees Man Who Wanted to Fight in Syria

Bosnia’s State Court on Monday pronounced Amir Haskic guilty of planning to go to a battlefield abroad, but exempted him from penalties because he refrained from committing the crime.

The court ruled that in the second half of 2017 Haskic created a plan and secured resources to join a paramilitary formation operating outside Bosnia and Herzegovina and established contacts through social networks with people in Syria, claiming he wanted to take part in the war on the side of Islamic State, ISIS, and wished to set fire to his Bosnian passport.

The verdict said that Haskic corresponded with persons named El Bosnavi, Abdu Kaim and Abdulah who are believed to be on foreign battlefields, through “telegrams”, Viber and Facebook, which he installed on his cell phone using the name “Slave of Allah”.

Trial Chamber chair Izo Tankic said it had been proven that Haskic intended to join a paramilitary formation in Syria and inquired about the price of an air ticket from Sarajevo to Istanbul, which witnesses’ testimonies and material evidence confirmed.

“It can be shown from witnesses’ testimonies that Haskic said he was searching for contacts, was preparing to leave for a battlefield abroad and he had a serious intent to do so, while the defendant himself also mentioned it in his testimony,” Judge Tankic said.

Tankic said the Chamber also established, contrary to the prosecution’s allegations, that Haskic voluntarily abandoned his intention.

In the opinion of the Chamber, this can be concluded from statements given by the defendant and his father, as well as from communications in which he discussed goat farming in an isolated place on a mountain, and the fact that he eventually married and destroyed his travel documents.

“Irrespective of the defendant’s conduct throughout this proceeding and contempt of court, the Chamber has decided to give him one last chance not to commit any more crimes and exempt him from penalty, bearing in mind that he is a young person with no prior convictions,” Tankic said.

On several occasions during the trial Haskic refused to stand up or sit down as the Chamber was entering the courtroom, saying that it went against his religious beliefs.

The parties have the right to file appeals against this verdict.