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Bosnia: 17 policemen were arrested under suspicion of corruption

Police officers in Bosnia and Herzegovina turned against some of their colleagues, detaining 17 traffic policemen suspected of abusing their posts and taking bribes to pardon irresponsible drivers, OCCRP reports. 

The arrested policemen have been suspected of having committed more than 100 crimes, including corruption, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Sarajevo Canton stated.

During the operation codenamed “DAR1” (gift1), considered the biggest cops vs. cops operation in the country in the last 25 years, police said they also searched 17 locations in the three cities, including police stations, and seized items and documents that will be used in the investigation. Police Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton under the supervision of the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office of Sarajevo Canton in cooperation with the Police Directorate of the Ministry of Interior of Zenica-Doboj Canton, Police Administration East Sarajevo and with the technical assistance of the Intelligence and Security Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The spokesman of the Sarajevo Cantonal Police, Mirza Hadžiabdić, told reporters that the police commissioners would probably suspend the detained policemen while the investigation against them continues.

Previously anticorr.media reported that a former top anti-corruption Prosecutor was found guilty by A court in Northern Macedonia. She was found guilty of accepting bribes and luxury gifts as part of an extortion scheme and was jailed for seven years after.