Bosnia’s Prosecutor’s Office halted an investigation against three persons who a local investigative outlet said were involved in an alleged Croatian secret service plot aimed to portray Bosnia as a terrorist hub.
Croatian intelligence was, according to local investigative outlet ‘Zurnal’, allegedly trying to recruit several Bosnian Muslims to store weapons in places of prayer in central Bosnia where police would find them after a tip-off.
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Zurnal published a series of interviews with Bosnians who lived in Croatia who claimed that the country’s secret service tried to talk them into working against Bosnia and that, when they refused, they were deported.
Bosnia’s Security Minister, Dragan Mektic, told media he has evidence proving the allegations are true.
The three persons Zurnal said were involved in the alleged affair are journalist Mato Djakovic, Deputy Security Minister Mijo Kresic and Croatia’s Consul in Bosnia, Ivan Bandic.
The three were questioned by prosecutors along with Mektic, the director of Bosnia’s Secret Service, Osman Mehmedagic, Zurnal journalist Avdo Avdic and persons who gave Zurnal interviews about the alleged affair.
“None of the witnesses who were questioned, except for Avdo Avdic who was not asked about the issue because there are legal obstacles to questioning him, have expressed any knowledge that the three persons mentioned were involved in the previously described activities,” a Prosecutor’s Office press statement said.
It even said that a man with the initials H.C., who gave an interview to Zurnal, also did not state he had any information about the alleged affair, and that the questioning was recorded on video.
Police agencies, the Council of Ministers and Bosnia’s Presidency also reported to the Prosecutor’s Office that they have no information proving the allegations true, the statement said.
But the Office said that thanks to the media reports, new questions did arise regarding “the recruitment of Bosnian citizens by persons who allegedly introduced themselves as employees of security and intelligence agencies of other countries.”
It also said that it initiated “activities, which will be implemented with legal help from the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Slovenia, in order to reveal all the circumstances.”
