SIPA

On 2 December 2013, the SIPA Management Board meeting was held at the headquarters of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), whereby the results of the third quarter of 2013 were discussed. In addition to Mr Goran Zubac, the Director of SIPA, Heads of SIPA’s organisational units also attended the meeting, as well as a representative of ICITAP.

The Management Board meeting noted that the results of the Agency achieved within the reporting period are very good and that the indicators of performance are at a higher level than in the entire last year as result of a successful implementation of duties and tasks falling within the competence of the Agency.

Director Goran Zubac pointed out his satisfaction with the results achieved and announced that the trend of successful results will be continued. He said that the work on complex cases will be continued in the following period while the particular emphasis as always will be on fighting terrorism, organised crime, financial crime and corruption.

The SIPA Management Board also expressed its particular satisfaction with the successful implementation of "Cargo" case and the case Zijad Turkovic and others, in which SIPA and Prosecutor’s Office of B&H managed to evidence the existence of the criminal organisation, which committed the most serious crimes on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina for which the Court of B&H pronounced the first instance verdict of total 124 years and 6 months of imprisonment.

It was also noted that all the capacities of SIPA were engaged in the work on this case and thanks to the timely and professional cooperation with the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H a severe blow was struck to organised crime in Bosnia and Herzegovina and beyond and monstrous criminal offences committed by the members of this criminal group were also resolved. Moreover, a need for a joint approach of SIPA and Prosecutor’s Office in other complex cases was emphasised.

The members of the Management Board also highlighted that the imprisonment sentences handed to Zijad Turković (40 years) and his associate Milenko Lakić (40 years) are the longest sentences so far for the criminal offence of organised crime which is a message to the citizens that the rule of law lives in B&H and that the law enforcement agencies are doing their job effectively.