Bosnia, Croatia close loophole to punish dual citizens

Feb 10, 2010, 13:08 GMT

Sarajevo - Bosnia and Croatia on Wednesday signed an agreement that will finally allow punishment of convicted criminals with dual citizenship.

According to new rules, each country agrees to impose the punishment of the other in case a person is convicted of a crime.

A legal loophole had previously allowed dozens of criminals with Bosnian and Croatian dual citizenship to avoid justice by skipping across the border, as local laws prohibited the extradition of citizens to other countries. The extradition ban remains in place.

Under the old rules, a person with dual citizenship sentenced for a crime by Croatia had to give consent to face that punishment in Bosnia. That protection is now eliminated.

The issue provided a major obstacle to justice and a boon for cross-border organized crime, as former Yugoslav republics routinely gave citizenship on the basis of family ties or birthplace.

In the highest-profile case, Croatian politician Branimir Glavas fled to Bosnia in May even as a court in Zagreb was sentencing him to 10 years in prison for war crimes.

Glavas had acquired the Bosnian citizenship shortly before his verdict and successfully warded of an extradition request.