A former member of the so-called Islamic State Jahja Vukovic, born in 1999 in Bihac, was arrested in Turkey and then transported to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday evening. He is suspected of travelling to Syria in 2014, where he joined Al Nusra.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the extradition of the suspect took place at the Sarajevo International Airport, after which he was arrested and will be handed over to the acting prosecutor.
The suspect Vukovic is under investigation by the Terrorism Department of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is suspected of having travelled to Syria in 2014 and joined the so-called paramilitary formations of ISIL, which has been declared a terrorist organization by the United Nations Security Council.
According to the evidence gathered, the suspect joined the Al Nusra Front formation where, together with other citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he participated in the group’s terrorist activities within the Khattab unit, which included attacks on the population, killings, illegal detentions and other terrorist activities.
The collected evidence indicates that the suspect was a member of these formations until 2019 and the final collapse of IDIL, after which he hid in the area of Turkey where he was discovered and arrested.
The suspect is under investigation for the criminal offense of organizing a terrorist group and will be handed over to the acting prosecutor within the legal deadline, who will interrogate the suspect and make a decision on further activities.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Department for Terrorism conducted the operation with partner institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad within the framework of anti-terrorist activities.
