United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thanked institutions of Bosnia-Herzegovina after the return of 25 ISIL fighters and their families to the country. Pompeo wrote this on his Twitter profile and, thanked to BiH and encouraged other countries to do the same.
“We thank Bosnia-Herzegovina for repatriating 25 individuals, both foreign terrorist fighters and family members, from Syria. We encourage others to follow and repatriate, prosecute, rehabilitate and reintegrate their citizens. Great work by SDF for enabling this achievement,” Pompeo stated.
The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and other authorized institutions and agencies have undertaken activities in accordance with the international obligations of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular UN Security Council Resolution no. 2396 and other related resolutions, and the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (ETS 196), which Bosnia and Herzegovina has undertaken to comply with and implement on the basis of membership in the United Nations and the Council of Europe, as well as membership of the Counter Terrorism Coalition.
In the past few days, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has cooperated with the BiH Border Police, the BiH State Investigation and Protection Agency, the BiH Ministry of Security, the BiH Intelligence and Security Agency, the Sarajevo Canton MoI, all in coordination and support of the US Government and the United States Embassy in Sarajevo, where a series of activities were conducted and have resulted in the transfer of a number of BiH nationals who participated in conflicts on foreign battlefields in Syria and whom the BiH Prosecutor’s Office is investigating for the criminal offenses of Organizing a Terrorist Group under Article 202d paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 201 of the CC of BiH – Unlawful Establishing and Joining to Foreign Paramilitary or Parapolice formations referred to in Article 162b paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in conjunction with the criminal offense of Terrorism referred to in Article 201 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
For some of these persons an international arrest warrant was issued pursuant to the order of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and following their transport to BiH, activities were initiated to remand them in custody. The Prosecutor’s Office continues to prosecute them in accordance with the law.
The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH expresses its continued willingness and commitment to implementation of counter-terrorism activities and would like to express its gratitude for cooperation to all law enforcement agencies in BiH, and in particular the United States Government and the US Embassy in Sarajevo, for their support and assistance in the implementation of these activities.
(Photo SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
