A Zagreb County Court investigative judge decided on Wednesday that Zdravko and Zoran Mamic should be remanded in custody, which once it becomes final, will serve as the basis to request their extradition from Bosnia and Herzegovina, state agency Hina reported on Wednesday, citing sources at the court.

The remand order was issued “due to flight risk and risk of repeating the crime,” Judge Kresimir Devcic told Hina.

He added that a panel of judges had upheld an appeal by the USKOK anti-corruption office against an earlier ruling which rejected the custody request. Once today’s ruling becomes final it will serve as the basis for Croatia to request that the Mamic brothers be extradited to Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina pursuant to an agreement between the two countries that entered into force in 2014, Devcic explained.

On 10 June the investigative judge rejected USKOK’s request to arrest the fugitive Mamic brothers because warrants for their arrest had already been issued and custody had been set in other cases against them.

Businessmen to remain in custody, judges released on bail

With regard to the other suspects in this case, the court confirmed on Monday that Osijek County Court Judge Darko Kruslin was released on bail while Judge Zvonko Vekic and Osijek businessman Drago Tadic were still behind bars.

A third suspect, Judge Ante Kvesic, had also been remanded in custody. He did not appeal against the decision and a final ruling has ordered disciplinary action against him, removing him from his judicial duties. As there was no cause to keep him detained, Kvesic was released on bail on Monday.

USKOK launched an investigation into the six suspects for giving and accepting bribes and influence peddling.

Kruslin is charged with accepting an Audemars Piguet watch in exchange for interceding for Mamic during the trial against him before the Osijek County Court.

USKOK said that in the period from April 2017 to 21 May 2019 Zdravko Mamic, at the time an indictee in several cases that also included his brother and other indictees, met with Judge Vekic in Zagreb, Osijek, Banja Luka, Siroki Brijeg and Dubai. Mamic gave Vekic a total of at least €370,000 for him and the other two judges.