Bosnia Releases Ministers Suspected of Tax Fraud

The appeals court freed Federation Agriculture Minister Jerko Ivankovic Lijanovic and Federation Trade Minister Milorad Bahilj on bail on Friday ahead of their trial after they spent a month and a half in custody on remand.

Also released were three other suspects in the tax fraud case, Ivankovic Lijanovic's brothers Jozo and Slavo, and Bahilj's colleague Mirko Galic.

"If we helped the Prosecutor's Office to come to the truth in this case through our arrests and lying in detention, I am glad we did it," said Ivankovic Lijanovic, the main suspect in the case codenamed Meso (Meat).

The Klix news site reported that the two ministers were back at work on Monday because the state court did not bar them from their jobs.

Ivankovic Lijanovic, the president of the People's Party Work for Progress, NSRZB, was among 11 people arrested on September 10 on suspicions of involvement in organised crime related to tax evasion and other fraud, through which they allegedly made around six million euro illegally.

Ivankovic Lijanovic's family runs a meat business, Lijanovici, which is one of the largest such companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bosnia's tax authority, which also participated in the investigation, has said that several smaller firms related to Ivankovic Lijanovic's company cost the state budget several million euro by avoiding VAT.

Last year, a BIRN investigation revealed that the Ivankovic Lijanovic was under suspicion of approving agricultural subsidies for members of his party.