Lejla Fazlagić Coming to Sarajevo for a Trial

The Cantonal Court in Sarajevo has withdrawn the warrant for former Municipal Court judge Lejla Fazlagić, who fled to the Republic of Croatia eight years ago, as confirmed to the Center for Investigative Journalism.

Fazlagić is expected to return to Sarajevo soon and appear before the Court to face organized crime charges.

Upon her arrival in Bosnia and Herzegovina, she will be placed under house arrest. Her return and court appearance are secured by a bond on her property in the country, according to the Court.

Fazlagić is accused of disinheriting dozens of property owners in Sarajevo between 2011 and 2016 by illegally transferring their houses, apartments, business premises, and land to individuals with no legal claim. The most frequently targeted were abandoned properties of Sarajevo Jews who perished in World War II and other deceased Sarajevans, as well as property owned by certain enterprises. The indictment against Fazlagić, filed by the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor’s Office in early 2018, alleges that 19 properties worth nearly eight million BAM were unlawfully transferred. Fazlagić was allegedly assisted by judges, lawyers, notaries, court and municipal officials, and others. The Prosecutor’s Office claims that this was an organized criminal group led by Alija Delimustafić, the former Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The indictment against Fazlagić was separated from the Delimustafić case, and the trial of the former minister finally began in April 2024 after multiple delays.

In the spring of 2019, CIN journalists found Fazlagić at her family cottage in Mala Duba near Makarska, where she had been living as a citizen of Croatia since leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina. Judicial authorities requested her extradition from Croatia, but the neighboring country refused.

“I will return to my Sarajevo. I will become a judge again”, Fazlagić told a CIN journalist at the time.