JAŠAREVIĆ’S RELEASE WITHOUT SECURITY GUARANTEES ENDANGERS CITIZENS

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 26 /SRNA/ – The release of convicted terrorist Mevlid Jašarević without public security guarantees and clear institutional supervision poses a threat to the security of BiH citizens and exposes all the weaknesses of the country's penal policy towards radical Islamization, security expert Slobodan Župljanin told SRNA.

"After being acquitted of charges of threatening prison staff while serving his sentence in the Vojkovići prison, Jašarević will be released upon the expiry of his 15-year sentence for the 2011 terrorist attack on the US Embassy in Sarajevo," Župljanin said.

He stressed that this case raises the serious question of whether the prison sentence achieved its purpose at all and whether the offender has been rehabilitated.

According to him, that is hard to believe given the indictment for new criminal offenses committed behind bars, and an even more serious question is who will monitor his behavior once he is free, and how.

"While in serious countries terrorism is punished far more severely, from life imprisonment to prison terms of 20 to 40 years, the current penal policy in BiH treats the criminal offense of terrorism on the level of an ordinary murder, practically encouraging and tolerating the commission of new offenses while serving a sentence," Župljanin said.

He added that Jašarević's rehabilitation process and the assessment of the danger he poses to society remain a complete unknown, because the public has not been informed about it.

According to him, the prison authorities, as well as the judicial and security bodies in BiH, must urgently provide answers to these questions.

"Until then, citizens can only trust in God's help, even though such persons should remain under strict expert and professional social supervision even after their release, until the necessary guarantees of their full rehabilitation are obtained," Župljanin concluded.

The Court of BiH today handed down a first-instance verdict acquitting Mevlid Jašarević of charges that he threatened staff at the Vojkovići prison and tried to obstruct them in the performance of their official duties.

The indictment states that the incidents took place in November and December 2024 at the Institution for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions, Detention and Other Measures, where Jašarević is serving his prison sentence under an earlier verdict of the Court of BiH.

On November 20, 2013, the Appellate Panel of the Court of BiH sentenced Jašarević to 15 years in prison for terrorism after he fired at the US Embassy in Sarajevo with an automatic rifle in 2011.

His 15-year prison sentence expires tomorrow, which is why he could be released this week.