Bosnia Convicts Former Minister of Organised Crime

The Bosnian state court on Monday sentenced Jerko Ivanovic Lijanovic, the former Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry Minister of Bosnia's Federation entity, to 12 years in prison and imposed a 25,000-euro fine.

His brother, Slavko Lijanovic, was also jailed for 10 years in the same first-instance verdict, while Milorad Bahilj, the Federation's former Trade Minister, was jailed for five years and 10 months. The court dismissed the charges against another man, Jozo Lijanovic.

According to the verdict, through illegal criminal activities, the group benefited to the tune of more than six million euros from unpaid or evaded taxes, the improper use of incentives for development of production and agriculture, and from selling stolen stocks from the Federal Department of Goods Reserves in the period from 2007 to 2012.

Lijanovici is one of the largest meat companies in Bosnia and is owned by the family of the same name, many of whom belong to the People's Party Work for Progress, NSRZB, whose president and vice-president are Mladen and Jerko Ivankovic Lijanovic.

The State Prosecutor's Office said that the case, codenamed 'Meso' ('Meat'), was one of the most complex cases of organised crime uncovered in the country in the post-war period.

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