SARAJEVO, Nov 15 (Hina) - The Interior Ministry of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Federation on Wednesday accused a lawyer, Josip Muselimovic, of trying to obstruct an investigation into the 1999 assassination of the federal Deputy Interior
Minister, Jozo Leutar. According to a statement the Croat-Moslem entity's Interior Ministry issued today, Muselimovic is held responsible for manipulations aimed at thwarting the investigative procedure into the killing of Leutar who died in March last year a few days after he sustained serious injuries in the explosion of a bomb planted under his car in Sarajevo. Muselimovic is blamed for deliberately making public the name of Jadranko Lucic, a man who has been suspected of being implicated in Leutar's assassination, so that the probe may take the wrong direction. On November 6, Lucic turned himself in to the Sarajevo-based cantonal court saying
SARAJEVO, Nov 15 (Hina) - The Interior Ministry of Bosnia-
Herzegovina's Federation on Wednesday accused a lawyer, Josip
Muselimovic, of trying to obstruct an investigation into the 1999
assassination of the federal Deputy Interior Minister, Jozo
Leutar.
According to a statement the Croat-Moslem entity's Interior
Ministry issued today, Muselimovic is held responsible for
manipulations aimed at thwarting the investigative procedure into
the killing of Leutar who died in March last year a few days after he
sustained serious injuries in the explosion of a bomb planted under
his car in Sarajevo.
Muselimovic is blamed for deliberately making public the name of
Jadranko Lucic, a man who has been suspected of being implicated in
Leutar's assassination, so that the probe may take the wrong
direction.
On November 6, Lucic turned himself in to the Sarajevo-based
cantonal court saying he had learnt that he was one of the suspects
in the Leutar case. On that occasion, Lucic said he had never
received summons and that no warrant for his arrest was issued. He
was set free two day after the surrender, when a protected witness
of the prosecution stated that he had never in his life seen Lucic.
During Lucic's surrender it was unclear whether a sealed indictment
was perhaps issued against him.
According to today's statement, the federal ministry did not plan
to apprehend Jadranko Lucic nor did it issue a warrant for his
arrest, although there was information indicating that he might
have been involved in the assassination.
On the basis of a testimony of a protected witness, Lucic was
identified as a possible suspect, but the additional check showed
that there was no grounded proof for this and therefore he was not
put on a list of wanted men.
Lucic's voluntary surrender to the a Cantonal Court judge has been
the direct consequence of an interview, Josip Muselimovic, a lawyer
from Mostar, gave to Croatia's 'Slobodna Dalmacija' daily, the
ministry asserted.
Muselimovic is the defence lawyer of another suspect in this case,
Zeljko Covic.
The Interior Ministry expressed surprise that Muselimovic revealed
information from court investigating papers although the inquiry
was still under way. Thus, he exposed Lucic to embarrassment.
The ministry believes that such an act of Muselimovic is a part of an
elaborated scenario aimed at making it more difficult for
investigators to do their job.
So far, three suspects in Leutar's assassination - Zoran Basic,
Zeljko Cosic, Dominik Ilijasevic - have been apprehended in Bosnia
and they are currently in custody. Ivan Andabak, who is believed to
be the mastermind behind the murder, was arrested more than two
months ago in Croatia but for another crime.
(hina) ms