Zoran Galić, who was the head of two of the three state police agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), illegally crossed the border and fled to Croatia in order to avoid arrest, the BiH Prosecutor's Office confirmed to Radio Free Europe on July 9.
Galić, the current deputy director of the Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is suspected of abusing his position or authority and receiving gifts while he was the director of the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Galić was supposed to be arrested by officers of SIPA, the police agency where he was appointed deputy director in March 2023.
Previously, he was the director of the BiH Border Police from 2014 to 2023, and before that he was the chief of police in the West Herzegovina Canton, which borders Croatia, for seven years. Until then, he was the chief of police in his native Posušje.
"There are grounds for suspicion that an unknown person from the institutions involved in the investigation provided suspect Zoran Galić with information about the investigation and the planned measures and actions against him," the BiH Prosecutor's Office announced.
The state prosecutor's office states that on the afternoon of July 8, after learning that he would be arrested, Galić "crossed the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina illegally, and fled to Croatia, where he is now."
The BiH Prosecutor's Office adds that, together with domestic institutions and international partners, they will conduct an investigation in order to identify and prosecute the said person in accordance with the law.
The BiH Prosecutor's Office announced that Blagoje Milović, assistant commander of the Trebinje Border Police Unit, was arrested on July 8. Ivica Bago from Grud, a city in western Herzegovina, who is a citizen of both BiH and Croatia, and who was previously arrested in Split and suspected of cigarette smuggling, was also arrested.
The BiH Prosecutor's Office states that Milović and Bago are suspected of organized crime, illicit traffic in excise goods, abuse of position or authority, and other criminal acts.
"The investigation conducted with the MUP of the Republika Srpska in this case of high-level corruption continues, and it is being conducted with the direct support of EUROPOL," announced the BiH Prosecutor's Office.
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