Bosnian Prosecution Seeks One-Month Custody for Syria Suspect

The defence meanwhile said other restrictions should be imposed on Vukovic instead of custody.

Vukovic was extradited to Bosnia and Herzegovina from Turkey several days ago.

He is suspected of joining a group called the al-Nusra Front and participating in terrorist activities in Syria, alongside other Bosnian citizens, as a member of the Hattab unit. These alleged activities include attacks on the general population, murders and unlawful detentions.

Prosecutor Cazim Hasanspahic said the custody remand was proposed for several reasons – the possibility that Vukovic might flee, influence witnesses, return to Syria and join terrorist groups again, as well as the danger he might pose to Bosnian citizens’ safety.

“It is evident that suspect Jahja Vukovic stayed in Syria for six years as a member of the al-Nusra Front, which the Bosnian Security Ministry, as well as the United Nations, has declared a terrorist organisation,” Hasanspahic said.

“During his questioning, the suspect did not deny having been a member of that organisation and undergoing military training. It can be clearly concluded that there are grounds for suspicion that he committed the crimes in question,” he added.

Vukovic’s ex-officio defence lawyer Bakir Hecimovic objected to the proposal.

He said his client was “a young man with no prior convictions” and that he went to Syria with his parents in 2014, when he was just 15 years old.

“We should consider whether there was premeditation in the case of a 15-year old and whether he could give an opinion or decide on anything,” said Hecimovic.

“Not a single decision of his could determine the course of events in his life when he headed towards Syria with his parents. The fact that he settled in Syria maybe does not mean that he was a member of a terrorist organisation,” he added.

He said the suspect “has given an extensive statement and is cooperating, presenting his defence and providing facts about other things as well”.

He asked the court to impose other restrictions such as house arrest, random police checks and confiscation of travel documents.

The court will make its decision within the legal deadline.