The Dubrovnik Municipal Court in Croatia sentenced Zoran Čegar, the suspended head of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Uniformed Police Sector, to a 7-month prison sentence for threatening a CIN reporter.

The sentence will not be enforced if Čegar does not reoffend within two years after the decision becomes final. In addition, the Court ordered him to pay approximately 210 marks for the costs of the criminal proceedings.

The reasoning noted that at the end of October 2022, dissatisfied with the text CIN published about his property,  Čegar threatened the reporter in front of the building of the Municipal Court in Dubrovnik, thus giving her a sense of fear. On that occasion, he said to the reporter, among other things, that he would rip her throat out.

The reporters revealed in the story that Čegar over the past twenty years of his police service acquired several houses, apartments, and land holdings in BiH and Croatia, including several cars, boats, motorcycles, and snowmobiles. He often traded without money, bartering his property for other people’s real estate and vehicles. He acquired part of the property using fictitious contracts and falsified documents, which is why he has been brought to civil and criminal courts.

The verdict for the threats targeted at the reporter was passed on April 14, 2023, ten days after the Dubrovnik Municipal State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment proposing to the Court to issue a penalty order. It is a legal option that implies sentencing without conducting the main hearing, which the Municipal Court in Dubrovnik accepted.

The Court’s decision isn’t final and Čegar has the right to appeal it within eight days from the date of receipt of the penalty order. If not appealed, the court decision will become final.

Due to the threats addressed to the reporter and the pending criminal proceedings for fraud in Dubrovnik, Čegar was suspended from the position of head of the FBiH Uniformed Police Sector and was dismissed from the position of president of the Police Committee for Police Officers of the FBiH.