The Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia rejected the motion of defense for the exemption of the President of the Osijek County Court in the second case against Zdravko Mamic, charged with taking money through the offshore companies.
With this decision, the last obstacle was removed to launching a new arrest warrant for the former leader of NK “Dinamo” which also means that Mamic’s dual citizenship will no longer be a barrier to his extradition to Croatia.
The decision of the Supreme Court refers to the last procedural obstacle to the issuance of a new arrest warrant for fugitive Mamic, and this time in the extradition process, Mamic’s dual citizenship no longer constitutes an obstacle to his extradition to Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina in which he escaped.
Namely, Mamic could still be extradited to Croatia for taking 200 million kuna from Dinamo Club.
An extradition agreement could be activated with BiH because the offense he is charged of is done after the signing of the abovementioned contract. Now, all is within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice.
The day before the pronouncement of the verdict, Mamic fled to BiH. BiH State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) police detained Mamic Thursday on the basis of an Interpol warrant.
During the hearing here on Friday, Mamic said that he is “a proud citizen of BiH and does not want to be extradited to Croatia.”
Mamic‘s lawyer Zdravko Rajic told reporters that BiH court had decided to suspend extradition proceedings because Mamic has BiH citizenship.
According to law scholars, the final verdict in this case could be stretched out until the end of 2019. If he is still found guilty, Mamic could serve the jail sentence in BiH, as a result of an agreement between the two countries.
