Two serious murder attempts in two days in the area of East Sarajevo undermined the security situation and provoked citizens’ agitation, which is why the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) of the Republika Srpska (RS) formed a special operational team and announced an increased police presence, while police officials demanded a more decisive response from judicial institutions to the activities of organized criminal groups.
This was said at an extraordinary press conference held today in Pale on the occasion of the execution of two crimes of “felony murder” in an attempt in the area of East Sarajevo.
The first attack took place on Sunday, August 2, in Spasovdanska Street in Istočno Novi Sarajevo, when Kosta Pandurević was seriously wounded by a firearm. The shooting happened while he was in the car, and a two-year-old child was with him, who was not injured. The suspect for this attempted murder is Đorđe Ždrale, who is on the run and for whom a search has been launched.
The second attack took place the following day, on Monday, August 3, and on that occasion, Davor Dabić was seriously wounded in a shooting, also in East Sarajevo, who, after suffering life-threatening injuries, was transferred to the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo (KCUS).
The head of the East Sarajevo Police Department, Branimir Šehovac, said that when it comes to attempted murder in the case of Dabić, they handed over Aleksandar Nikolić to the District Public Prosecutor’s Office and that further work on this case should be taken over by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the RS.
He reminded that the conflict between the criminal groups led by Darko Elez and Đorđe Ždrale has been going on since January 2006 until today.
“During their confrontations, in quite a few cases, citizens were exposed to immediate danger, when there were also deaths of innocent people who were found at those confrontation sites. No one can predict the place and time of their confrontation, and unfortunately, it can happen again. But, on this occasion, I would like to point out that it can be prevented and that only if the judicial institutions do their part,” he pointed out.
Therefore, he called on the judicial institutions in the Republika Srpska, but also in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole, to close the cases related to the serious crimes committed by Đorđe Ždrale, Darko Elez, and others who, together with them or independently, committed serious crimes in order to prevent further conflicts and thus protect other citizens who may be killed in confrontations.
He said that no one can say that the police are not doing their job and that they will continue to perform it even more actively in order to create a favorable state of security and good conditions for the life of citizens in this area.
The Director of the Police of Republika Srpska (RS) Siniša Kostrešević pointed out that special teams will be formed with the aim of elucidating the aforementioned serious crimes, which will continuously work on this, but also on elucidating crimes that the suspects have been committing for many years.
He noted that some people have already been arrested and that Nikolić was handed over to the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in East Sarajevo.
He will most likely be detained. Đorđe Ždrale is on the run, we are intensively searching for him. I hope that we will realize that quickly and successfully – he added.
He also called on the citizens to cooperate with the police and share all the information they have, assessing that such an approach could contribute to more efficient work of the police force and faster investigation of crimes.
The mayor of East Sarajevo, Ljubiša Ćosić, also addressed the media, who said that the situation in which two murders were attempted in two days has definitely brought unrest and concern among the citizens.
At the same time, he emphasized the importance of the MUP of the RS, saying that it is the most important institution in the Republic of Srpska when it comes to the trust that citizens should have in certain institutions.
“On that side, I am sure that in the future these people will do their job well,” he emphasized.
Among other things, he said that he will appeal to fellow citizens to remain calm, composed and collected, stressing that he expects that the activities that the MUP of the RS will carry out in the coming period, along with the involvement of the Police Administration and the Ministry’s management, will help to prevent such incidents in the future.
The Minister of Internal Affairs (MUP) of the Republika Srpska (RS) Željko Budimir emphasized that the security situation has been undermined due to two serious attempted murders, which took place in the administrative area of East Sarajevo.
Because of this, you can expect a greater presence of the police in the coming period. We have already created a special operational team that will deal with these developments in connection with the conflict between organized criminal groups, headed by Elez and Ždrale – he said.
When it comes to the case of attempted murder of Davor Dabić, he pointed out that the police are working intensively to identify the immediate perpetrator of the attack. He also said that the investigators have videos and a photo robot of the person who shot Dabić, and that a series of investigations are being carried out, including polygraph tests and other measures aimed at fully elucidating this criminal act.
He noted that they have intensive cooperation with the Federal Police Administration and cantonal police.
All our assumptions and knowledge indicate that Ždrale, who is on the run, is on that side, although we cannot say that with certainty at this moment, but we are searching intensively – he emphasized.
Minister Budimir assessed that the effectiveness of the existing system of combating organized crime must be seriously re-examined, stating that the fact that persons accused and convicted of the most serious crimes are often released before the end of their sentences is a concern.
He also pointed to the length of court proceedings, pointing out that some cases last for years, which further slows down the response of institutions to organized crime.
In his opinion, it is necessary to consider changes to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, because the current approach, he believes, does not produce the expected results.
He also emphasized that the successful fight against organized crime requires faster and more decisive work by police and judicial institutions because the impression is created that despite the many years of efforts of the institutions, the same organized criminal groups and their leaders appear again and again, without substantial changes in the state of security.
He told the citizens of East Sarajevo that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS and the police of the Republic of Srpska will use all their capacities in the fight against organized crime in the area of that city, Fena writes.
