BRATISLAVA, August 4, (WEBNOVINY) – The General Prosecutor of the Slovak Republic is to file a criminal complaint against alleged Albanian mafia boss Baki Sadiki regarding extensive drug smuggling of 120 kg of heroin, spokeswoman of the Prosecutor’s Office Svetlana Mockova confirmed to SITA. This case is not associated with the 2008 drug case in which the prosecution of Baki Sadiki was halted due to lack of evidence.
Internationally-wanted Baki Sadiki, a Kosovar Albanian with a Slovak passport, is probably hiding in Kosovo. The Justice Ministry led by former Minister Viera Petrikova filed an extradition request for Sadiki to Serbian authorities in June because Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence. The Ministry could have given its request to EULEX, European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo. It however argued that EULEX does not have the right to extradite a Kosovar citizen to a different country; it can only detain the citizen. Slovakia is asking for Sadiki’s arrest and extradition for criminal prosecution based on a bilateral agreement and the European Convention on Extradition. The case involves another person with whom the situation is similar.
According to the prosecution, in the latest case involving Baki Sadiki an organized group around him six times smuggled 20 kg of heroin consignments disguised in footwear imported from Turkey and heading for Poland, Switzerland, and Italy. In at least three of the cases, the drug was temporarily stored in a boarding house in Stary Smokovec in the High Tatras, where the police detained 10 kg of heroin on September 19, 2008, which is the largest amount ever seized in the history of Slovakia. The drugs were smuggled via the Balkan Route, and Sadiki was one of the managing articles.
Baki Sadiki is also known due to his alleged friendly relations with former Justice Minister and current Supreme Court Stefan Harabin, suggested by a recording of their telephone conversation. Harabin rejects all such allegations.
SITA