Bosnian Crime Fighter Jailed

Vjekoslav VukovicBosnia's assistant minister of security was ordered to remain in custody for a month Monday, after Croatian police in Rijekaarrestedhim for conspiracy to commit murder. Vjekoslav Vuković, 35, is accused of acquiring explosives that police think were to be used in a car-bomb assassinations of two men who provide nightclub security in Rijeka. Two other men were arrested in October in connection with the attempted killings. Since then police had been waiting for Vuković to enter the country to apprehend him as a co-conspirator.

A Rijeka court ordered that Vuković remain in custody for a month while public prosecutors assess the case. Vuković has denied the charges, and his lawyer, Antun Denona, told reporters that his client was “shocked” by the “media lynching” he has been subjected to.
Vuković, who was born in Fojnica and lives in Kiseljak, was head of a special unit within the interior ministry to combat organized crime, terrorism and corruption. He also served as the head of the state commission for reviewing Bosnian citizenship, which was responsible for revoking citizenship for several hundred individuals, including many foreign mujahideen who had fought in the Bosnian war.

Bosnian Interior Minister Tarik Sadović told reporters Monday that Vuković had been suspended for failing to appear at work, and said the arrest had created an “unpleasant situation.”