Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina president arrested

Source: B92, Beta, klix.ba

SARAJEVO -- Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (FBiH) President Živko Budimir was arrested on Friday for accepting bribes in exchange for granting pardons.

Živko Budimir (YouTube print screen)

The FBiH is the Bosniak (Muslim)-Croat entity of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
RTV FBiH reported earlier today that Budimir was arrested in his office by members of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA).

Organized Crime Prosecutor Oleg Čavka has confirmed that an investigation is underway but has not given more details about the case.

“I can only confirm that we are conducting investigative activities in cases of corruption,” he told Turkish Anadolu news agency.

Anadolu has reported that the investigators are searching his office.

Budimir’s advisor Laura Bošnjak has stated that Budimir’s office is being searched and denied allegations that he accepted bribes.

The Prosecution sent a release to media earlier on Friday, noting that SIPA members “are performing certain investigative activities” in the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency headquarters in Sarajevo and the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina government headquarters in Mostar.

The investigation is aimed at revealing criminal cases of corruption done by the top officials of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Bosnia-Herzegovina Prosecution said in the release.

The public will be informed about the results of the search at a later time, it is added in the release.

According to klix.ba, the “investigative activities” refer to operations with codenames “Memory”, “Patriot” and “Justice”.

Several dozens of persons suspected of accepting and giving bribes, abuse of office, illegal trade in narcotics and organized crime are under the investigation.

The SIPA members are searching numerous locations across Bosnia-Herzegovina.