Bosnian Tycoon Radoncic Agrees Drug Trial Testimony

Fahrudin Radoncic, the leader of the Alliance for a Better Future of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBBBiH) said on Sunday that he is ready to testify at the trial of the alleged Balkan drug lord Naser Kelmendi which is currently underway in the Kosovo capital Pristina.

"I am one of the witnesses called by the prosecution and I will testify at the end of April, for ten days, and I will do it with extreme satisfaction," Radoncic told Bosnian television station OBN.

Radoncic is a 58-year-old Bosnian businessman and media mogul, owner of the most-read newspaper in the country, Sarajevo-based Dnevni Avaz.

The Pristina trial indictment accuses him of being of the members of Kelmendi's "inner circle".

Radoncic insists however that his name was connected to Kelmendi only to discredit his political activity, and up until now he was unwilling to testify at the trial.

Kelmendi, a Bosnian born in Kosovo, is on trial for aggravated murder, two counts of organized crime and six counts concerning the sale and production of drugs, include managing and overseeing a narcotics ring.

In his interview with OBN, Radoncic also said he believed that Bakir Dautbasic, a politician from the SBBBiH, was innocent of interfering with a witness in the Kelmendi case.

Dautbasic is currently in custody on remand after being arrested with his partner Bilsena Sahman last week on suspicion of influencing the deposition of a Bosnian citizen, Azra Saric, during the trial of Kelmendi in Pristina.

Dautbasic is accused of trying to influence the witness not to mention Radoncic in her deposition.

"I believe that Dautbasic and Sahman are innocent," Radoncic said.

He said he believed that their arrest was planned by somebody who wanted to...