The suspicious death of 21-year-old Dzenan Memic, whose family believes he was murdered and that authorities in Sarajevo tried to cover it up, is now being investigated as an organised crime case, the family’s lawyer Ifet Feraget said after he met with Bosnia’s Chief Prosecutor on Wednesday.
Memic’s case has been dragging on for more than three and a half years.
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The young man died on February 15, 2016, due to injuries he suffered a week earlier as he walked along Sarajevo’s Ilidza neighbourhood with his girlfriend.
The Sarajevo Canton Court first ruled that Memic was killed when he was hit by a vehicle, but the family never believed it.
The Supreme Court of Bosnia’s Federation (FBiH) entity then released the two persons convicted for the traffic accident, Ljubo and Bekrija Seferovic and abolished the ruling.
The case was returned to the Sarajevo Canton Court for a new trial in July this year.
Dzenan father, Muriz Memic, as well as the young man’s sister, Arijana Memic, also participated in the meeting between Feraget and Tadic on Wednesday.
“What I have been saying for three and a half years has now turned out to be true. I’m no fool, neither is Ifet, and we have been telling the truth from the start. Maybe from today onward, the lawful state will begin to function,” Muriz Memic said.
“The Chief Prosecutor has shown that she is courageous,” he said, adding that “this will take a long time, but it has begun.”
Memic would not talk about the details of the investigation.
For Feraget, the evidence is clear.
“It was clear from the start that Dzenan was murdered. Whoever was investigating it as a traffic accident was consciously and deliberately covering it up,” he said.
Feraget said that he also spoke to Tadic about the case of David Dragicevic – another young man whose lifeless body was found in a creek near the city of Banja Luka in March last year.
His death is being investigated as a murder case, but his family believes that police in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) semi-autonomous entity are covering up who the perpetrators are. The case has caused widespread protests throughout last year.
“We agreed that the Banja Luka Prosecutor’s Office forwards the case of David Dragicevic to the State Prosecutor’s Office which has the competency in cases of organised crime,” he said.
Feraget would also not reveal any details about the newly initiated investigation into Memic’s death.
“We will never be winners. Dzenan is gone, David is gone. This is not the job of a lawyer, but a prosecutor,” he said. “We are defeated, because in this country there is no rule of law, but this represents a glimmer of hope. The international community is behind us.”
The Memic family submitted a criminal complaint against more than 40 people, including former Chief Prosecutor in Sarajevo Canton, Dalida Burzic, whom they accuse of covering up Dzenan Memic’s murder and issuing a false indictment stating the death was caused by a traffic accident.
Feraget also spoke to N1 on Wednesday morning, strongly criticising Bosnia’s prosecutors.
“As soon as their bodies were found, it was clear that Dzenan Memic and David Dragicevic were murdered,” he said.
He pointed out that that the investigation into Memic’s death was initiated on March 7, 2016, although the body was found on February 8.
“What have we been doing for a month? Why was it not initiated that same moment?” he asked.
As for Dragicevic, the investigation into his death was opened on June 28, although his body was found on March 24, he said.
“In the case of David Dragicevic, as well as in the case of Dzenan Memic, the investigation is being implemented based on illegal, false and planted evidence. That is a catastrophe,” he stressed.
“We are very persistent, the families and I, but if there was no support from the media we surely would have not made it this far. But we are still at the beginning,” he said.
“It is clear that someone from outside the judiciary controls our judicial system,” Feraget said, adding that this is the impression he got when he spoke to Banja Luka Prosecutor Zelimir Lepir.
