The Republic of Srpska

The members of the Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior are undertaking intense and coordinated measures and activities focused on solving the recent serious criminal offences in Istočno Sarajevo, with increased presence of the police in the field, and decisive fight against organized crime. 

This is the message of today’s press conference held at Istočno Sarajevo Police Administration related to the commission of the attempted criminal offences ‘Aggravated murder’.

Head of Istočno Sarajevo PA, Mr Branimir Šehovac, said that the investigation related to the attempted murders would be taken over by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Srpska. He invited the judiciary institutions to treat the investigations connected to the conflict of the criminal groups as top priority in order to prevent their future clashes. 

The Republic of Srpska Police Director, Mr Siniša Kostrešević, said that the operational teams were formed, working intensely to solve both criminal offences, and as a result, certain persons had already been arrested. He announced increased presence of the police on the field and invited the citizens to share the useful information with the police.

The Mayor of Istočno Sarajevo, Mr Ljubiša Ćosić, invited the citizens to remain calm and trust the police, and pointed out that the security of the citizens was the absolute priority. He expressed his support to the Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior.

The Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior, Mr Željko Budimir, said that the Ministry would use all their capacities in the fight against organized crime on the territory of Istočno Sarajevo. He explained that the increased presence of all operational units of the Ministry would not only help solving those cases, but also prevent the potential similar attempts in future. 

He warned that this type of incidents should not be used for ‘petty politicization’, since the situation was rather serious. 

‘The members of the Uniformed Police Administration, Administration for Countering Organized Crime and Crime Police Administration are working around the clock. From the moment these incidents occurred, they are continuously on the field. However, these are the situations we cannot counter on our own’, Minister Budimir said. 

He expressed his belief that the institutions that make law proposals should consider stricter and more severe punishing policy, especially the treatment of those who are returnees in the commission of criminal offences. Minister explained that this issue shod be a matter of a wider social discussion. He added that there was satisfactory cooperation with the Federal Police Administration and Sarajevo Canton Police.