The police forces of Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are determined to continue strengthening their cooperation in combating organised crime which is equally dangerous for the countries in the region, according to the conclusions of a meeting of the national police directors, Himzo Selimovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Oliver Grbic of Croatia and Milorad Veljovic of Serbia, in Sarajevo on Thursday.
The police chiefs held the two-day meeting in the Bosnian capital to discuss operational measures in their cooperation.
They also discussed the case of 42-year-old Dragan Paravina, who was convicted in Serbia for rape and who is on trial in Bosnia for attempted rape and who is wanted in Croatia on suspicion that he was involved in the recent disappearance of teenage girl Antonia Bilic in the Dalmatian hinterland. Paravinja avoided serving the prison term in Serbia fleeing to Croatia. Apart from holding Croatian and Serbian citizenship, he has recently claimed that he is also a Bosnian citizen.
As for this case, Grbic said that he believed that the police possessed enough evidence for a guilty verdict for Paravinja, suspected of Antonia Bilic's murder.
The police are still conducting an intensive search for the girl's body.
He admitted that the Paravinja case was a blow to the police and judicial authorities in all the three countries.
Grbic recalled that Paravinja was only one of the 300 persons, whose arrests are ordered by international warrants and whose extradition is prevented by their dual citizenship to countries where they had committed crimes.
"I have been unpleasantly surprised to see that about 20 such people have committed murder, attempted murder or are wanted for rape. It is even more shocking that two of those people had sexual intercourse with children," he said.
He urged the heads of state and ministers of the interior and justice of these three countries to hold serious discussions on those issues and prevent the abuse of dual citizenship.
