Protest erupts over arrest of Ganic on war crime charge

Published on Friday 5 March 2010 21:49

THOUSANDS of Bosnians protested yesterday as a former president of Bosnia and Herzegovina faced at least another six days in a British prison.

Ejup Ganic, 64 was detained at London's Heathrow on Monday on charges of conspiring to kill wounded Bosnian Serb soldiers during the Balkan wars.

He is held in Wandsworth Prison on a provisional arrest warrant so Serbian authorities can seek his extradition.

Yesterday Ganic, a distinguished scholar, applied at the High Court in London for bail – only to have the application adjourned – as thousands protested in front of the British and Serbian embassies in Sarajevo.

Protesters waved Bosnian flags and held banners accusing Serbia of lying and Britain of siding with it in a politically motivated legal action.

Ganic's son, Emir, was at the bail hearing and said an official protest was being made to the Foreign Office over the treatment of his father.

He said that for three days after his arrest, "my father was denied access to the ambassador, to us and to his lawyers, and he was denied phone calls from the prison".

He added: "He had no clue what was going on."

Lord Justice Laws and Mr Justice McCombe adjourned the bail application to give the Serbian authorities another six days to come up with evidence to support their accusations that Ganic is a war criminal.

Lord Justice Laws expressed his concern that Ganic was in "a custodial limbo" because Serbia had not formally requested his extradition to face trial and legally had up 45 days to do so.