The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday allowed Vinko Martinovic, aka Stela, to await a decision on Croatia's request for his extradition without being placed in custody.

Martinovic was in sentenced in Croatia to seven years in prison in 2016 for the murder of Jasmina Djukic in the Bosnian town of Mostar in 1996. Martinovic and his accomplices killed Djukic in order to obtain her flat, which they then sold.

After a Zagreb court delivered the guilty verdict in November 2016, Martinovic, who holds both Croatian and Bosnian citizenship, fled Croatia. In 2020, the Croatian Supreme Court imposed a sentence of 10 years for that crime.

Martinovic was arrested by members of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) on Wednesday.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday held a hearing only to decide whether Martinovic would be remanded in custody until the completion of extradition proceedings. As for whether legal preconditions have been met for his transfer to Croatia, a decision is to be made at a later date.

Judge Goran Radevic ruled that Martinovic’s personal and travel documents, both Croatian and those issued by Bosnian authorities, should be confiscated and Martinovic not allowed to leave the country.

Martinovic was previously also convicted of war crimes against Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina and sentenced to 18 years in prison. He was released from an Italian prison in January 2012 after serving two-thirds of his prison sentence handed down by the Hague war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).