The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has established that Dragan Paravinja, suspected in Croatia of the murder of teenage girl Antonia Bilic, does not possess the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia's request for his extradition has been forwarded from the court to the justice ministry which has a final say in the matter, the spokeswoman for the Bosnian state court Manuela Hodzic told reporters on Thursday.
The 42-year-old Paravinja, 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, avoided serving the prison term in Serbia fleeing to Croatia. Apart from holding Croatian and Serbian citizenship, he has recently claimed that he was also a Bosnian citizen.
Both Croatia and Serbia have requested his extradition after he was apprehended in Bosnia in late June.
Serbia's request is to be first processed by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina before it is forwarded to the justice ministry.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina said that the extradition procedure on Croatia's request is not connected with the trial going on before the municipal court in Sokolac, eastern Bosnia, which has indicted Paravinja for attempted rape in 2002. This court is expected to hold a verdict delivering hearing on Friday.
Since his arrest in Bosnia, Paravinja has been kept in the Kula penitentiary in east Sarajevo.
