SIPA Spokesman Admir Katic told Hina on Friday that information on the possible whereabouts of Jelvic was being collected.
Jelavic, who was sentenced to ten years in jail for his involvement in the embezzlement of funds sent by Croatia as aid to Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina, did not start serving his sentence immediately after the verdict was read on Thursday, although the State Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina ordered his immediate imprisonment.
Following an order by prosecutor John McNair, court police searched for Jelavic at his house in the southern Bosnian town of Mostar on Thursday afternoon but did not find him, police officials said last night.
Besides the SIPA agency, the State Border police and other police were also ordered to arrest Jelavic.
Visibly surprised that Jelavic did not attend the announcement of the verdict, the president of the trial chamber, Malcolm Simmons, yesterday asked defence attorney Dragan Barbaric for an explanation. Barbaric replied that Jelavic was not bound by law to attend the announcement of the verdict, which prosecutor McNair corroborated.
Asked when he had seen Jelavic last, Barbaric said he met him earlier in the morning, but Jelavic did not tell him anything in particular. The attorney was visibly dissatisfied with the verdict, but declined to comment on it.
Jelavic's wife attended the announcement of the verdict, but would not comment on it either.
Earlier this year, the trial chamber allowed Jelavic to defend himself from freedom. He was released on bail of about 250,000 and he had to hand over his passport as a guarantee that he would not leave the country.
Jelavic was also ordered to report to the police in Mostar on a daily basis. Since May this year when he was temporarily released he did so regularly every day until a day before the date of the delivery of his verdict.
Jelavic, who used to be one of leading Bosnian Croat politicians, can appeal the verdict.