From: Europe Online Magazine
Belgrade (dpa) – Bosnia will extradite to Germany Srecko Kestner, believed to have been a crucial figure in multi-billion-dollar cigarette smuggling in the Balkans, a spokeswoman in Sarajevo told the German press agency dpa Thursday.
Kestner was arrested in August on a warrant from Germany in connection with the smuggling.
In 2010 Kestner testified as a protected witness in a trial against the so-called “tobacco Mafia” at the special Serbian court for organized crime.
In magazine interviews in 2001 Kestner accused the Montenegrin leader Milo Djukanovic of being the mastermind behind the smuggling of cigarettes with the mafia in Italy and Serbia during the 1990s.
Djukanovic has been the most powerful man in Montenegro for the past two decades. He was investigated by Italian and German authorities in connection with the smuggling allegations, but his diplomatic immunity protected him from prosecution.
He was either prime minister or president for most of that period, but even after he resigned from government two years ago, he retained power by remaining at the helm of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists.
With pressure from investigators growing again, it is speculated in Montenegro that Djukanovic may return to head the next government after Sunday‘s snap elections, which his party is expected to win again, or possibly seek another presidential term in the spring. dpa ey bb mat Authors: Thomas Brey, Boris Babic
