The Bosnian state court ordered a man purportedly with links to ISIS to be remanded in custody for a month over his alleged mosque attack plan.
Mirza Kapic purportedly planned to carry out the mosque attack in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The suspect is under investigation and is accused of having, during the past month, via electronic communication channels…established contact with individuals who support radical movements and structures assisting the so-called ISIS,” said the Prosecutor’s Office.
“In the correspondence, he expressed a desire to carry out an explosive attack on a mosque in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of July this year,” it continued.
The location of the mosque has not been specified.
Prosecutors proposed Kapic’s detention due to the risk that he could attempt to obstruct the investigation, conceal evidence, exert influence on witnesses and accomplices, or even continue carrying out the attack.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Kapic sought the guidance of ISIS supporters about how to make an explosive device with a detonator that could be set off via mobile phone.
Kapic purportedly intended to target Islamic scholars who issued statements against extremist jihadists, and report supporters of radical movements and ISIS to authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Kapic was previously sentenced to a year and ten months in prison over his involvement in the Syrian conflict, and for unlawful possession of weapons. Kapic will remain in detention until 4 September, or until a new decision is made by the court.
According to media analysis, 39 people have been sentenced in Bosnia to a combined total of some 164 years in prison for heading abroad to fight in overseas conflicts, and for committing, planning and preparing terrorist acts. Bosnian courts have so far acquitted three defendants.
People who go abroad to fight illegally in conflicts are typically sentenced to less than two years in prison.
More than 1,000 people, including fighters and their families, traveled from the Western Balkans to the Middle East between 2011 and 2016 to fight in conflicts there. The majority of the fighters joined the Islamic, though others joined Jabhat al Nusra (now Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, HTS), or other minor jihadist groups.
Most Bosnian fighters came from the municipalities of Sarajevo, Zenica, Tuzla, Travnik and Bihac, after jihadist propaganda proved successful in recruiting young volunteers from the Bosnian muslim community.
Western Balkans legal institutions are still grappling with strategies to deal with returning family members and their children, including rehabilitation and reintegration, in an effort to curb future radicalisation.
Image via Wikimedia
