The Bosnian judiciary is grappling with a true mystery – the whereabouts of convicted war criminal Sakib Mahmuljin remain unknown. Despite being sentenced by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in April 2022 to eight years in prison for war crimes against captured Serbian civilians, medical personnel, and soldiers in Vozuća and Zavidovići in 1995, Mahmuljin has been untraceable for two years.
Escape to Turkey and a Disappearing Act
After his sentencing, Mahmuljin fled Bosnia and Herzegovina, reportedly heading to Turkey to avoid serving his sentence. According to the Court of BiH, Mahmuljin was due to report to the court on November 23, 2022, to receive his detention order, but he never appeared.
Bosnia’s Ministry of Justice submitted an extradition request to Turkey, but Turkish authorities stated that Mahmuljin could not be located on their territory.
“The judicial authorities in Turkey informed this ministry that Sakib Mahmuljin is not located within Turkey. Without information on his current location, further action is impossible,” the BiH Ministry of Justice declared.
From Freedom to Flight
Throughout the trial, Mahmuljin remained free, and even after the final verdict, he was not detained. The judicial process, from the first-instance trial to the appeals, allowed him unrestricted movement, which he exploited to escape.
Justice Delayed
Mahmuljin’s case highlights the challenges faced by the BiH judicial system, particularly in prosecuting war crimes. His escape and the inability of local and international authorities to locate him raise questions about the effectiveness of the judiciary and the political implications of his case.
As judicial institutions struggle with bureaucratic hurdles and international cooperation, the victims of these crimes and their families are left without justice.
NOTE: The El Mujahideen Detachment was brought to Bosnia by the Americans. This was a unit of Al Qaeda. At the time of their arrival, the USA and Al Qaeda were on good terms, but this relationship later deteriorated. The leader of El Mujahideen was General Abu Maali of the Army of BiH, who also served as Al Qaeda’s commander for Europe and was a close associate of Osama bin Laden. Abu Maali’s superior was Sakib Mahmuljin. This explains Mahmuljin’s global ability to disappear. Cells support, honor, and serve him.
The tragic fallout of U.S.-Mujahideen relations became evident when Al Qaeda fighters from Bosnia launched attacks on the World Trade Center towers. During that period, Osama bin Laden had obtained a Bosnian passport. Al Qaeda considered Bosnia as one of its territories, as publicly declared by General Patković while reviewing soldiers. While the WTC was being destroyed, coordination among the terrorists came from the office of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s diplomatic mission to the UN. There, an Al Qaeda operative, Abu Maali, was stationed under a false name and passport. This was all facilitated by the SDA party.
This serves as key evidence that the SDA is a terrorist organization. It also explains why the worst war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the genocide in Grabovica, were not investigated by the Hague Tribunal. The United States vetoed any investigations into these crimes. It would have been impossible to question any of the perpetrators from Grabovica, Vitez, Bugojno, or Travnik without implicating the U.S. State Department for ordering and bringing these individuals to Europe.
Croats, from the very beginning, agreed to be “partners” of the United States. They had no idea that they would soon become victims of U.S.-Al Qaeda crimes against them in Bosnia.