WASHINGTON WANTS JAŠAREVIĆ, COURT TO DECIDE ON CUSTODY

SARAJEVO, OCTOBER 27 /SRNA/ - The Court of BiH held a hearing today on a motion to place terrorist Mevlid Jašarević in extradition custody, after the United States requested his extradition on charges of attempting to kill US officials and employees of the embassy in Sarajevo.

The BiH Prosecutor's Office sought custody, citing the risk that Jašarević might flee and evade proceedings before US judicial authorities, given the seriousness of the charges and the severity of the possible sentences.

US authorities have charged Jašarević on a total of ten counts in an indictment filed in 2012 before a court in the District of Columbia.

The charges include, among others, attempted murder of US officials and nationals, assault with a dangerous and deadly weapon, damaging US Embassy property and endangering human life, as well as the use of an automatic firearm.

His lawyer, Alma Tabaković, said the custody motion was unsubstantiated and incomplete, and that the defense had not been given enough time to prepare, as the documents from the BiH Ministry of Justice and the US Embassy's diplomatic note were only delivered yesterday afternoon.

She said that, in the defense's view, the offenses listed in the US indictment were already covered by the terrorism charge for which Jašarević had served his sentence in BiH, and that custody cannot be an automatic consequence of another country's request.

The defense also challenged the reliance on the 1901 extradition treaty between the United States and the Kingdom of Serbia, which BiH inherited through succession, as well as whether the territorial principle had been met, since the attack was carried out on BiH territory.

Addressing the court, Jašarević said that "the main man from Gornja Maoča, Nusret Imamović, has not been punished," claiming that Imamović was the one who sent him to shoot at the embassy.

He asked not to be placed in custody, saying he had already served his sentence in BiH and wanted to spend time with his son.

The decision on the US extradition request will be made by the BiH Ministry of Justice, that is, Justice Minister Davor Bunoza, while the Court of BiH will rule on the motion for extradition custody.

Jašarević's 15-year prison sentence for the terrorist attack on the US Embassy in Sarajevo on October 28, 2011, expires today. Yesterday, the Court of BiH also acquitted him of charges of assaulting an official at the Vojkovići prison.

During the attack, which lasted around 50 minutes, he fired 105 rounds from an automatic rifle at the embassy building and seriously wounded a police officer guarding the facility.