War crimes convicts, such as former member of the Croatian Parliament Branimir Glavas, should not engage in politics, especially not when serving their prison sentence, Bosnian Justice Minister Barisa Colak said on Tuesday.
Colak said that the Glavas case would not compromise the agreement with Croatia on mutual assistance in criminal matters.
"Neither Bosnia and Herzegovina nor Croatia have an interest in abolishing such an important agreement, particularly when it comes to the extradition of convicted persons," Colak was quoted by the Sarajevo newspaper Dnevni Avaz as saying.
The minister was commenting on Croatian media reports claiming that, because of Glavas's attempts to take active part in the current election campaign in Croatia, Croatia is seriously considering a review of the agreement, under which a person convicted in one country can serve their sentence in the other.
According to media reports, the Croatian authorities find it unacceptable that a person serving a prison term, such as Glavas, should be allowed to be politically active. They cite the case of Fikret Abdic, who is serving a prison sentence in Croatia for war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying that he is completely isolated from any political activity.
Colak noted that Bosnian laws say clearly that persons found guilty of war crimes may not engage in politics, describing as an omission the fact that Glavas has managed to do so.
"Such omissions should not be happening," Colak said, without indicating whether any steps would be taken.
Glavas began serving his eight-year prison term in Zenica prison last December, but was allowed to be transferred to Mostar where the prison regime is more relaxed.
