A Bosnian official and his wife have been arrested on suspicion of trying to influence a high-profile court case against an accused Balkan drug boss.
Bakir Dautbasic and his wife, Bilsena Sahman, were arrested in the capital, Sarajevo, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office on January 11. It also said further raids had been conducted to collect data.
Dautbasic is suspected of interference in the trial of Naser Kelmendi, an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo who also holds Bosnian citizenship.
Dautbasic is state secretary at the Bosnian Security Ministry and a member of the United for Better Future political party, which is part of the governing coalition.
Kelmendi was arrested in Kosovo in 2013 on a Bosnian warrant over his alleged involvement in organized crime and the 2007 killing of former Bosnian warlord Ramiz Delalic. He is also on a U.S. blacklist of alleged drug kingpins.
Several senior Bosnian officials have been tried for organized crime and corruption, but none convicted.