prijava
SARAJEVO, April 18 (FENA) - The fragmented security system in Bosnia and Herzegovina, insufficient cooperation between the countries of the Western Balkans in terms of information exchange and coordination in police actions, are most favorable conditions for criminal structures that improve their cooperation and continue with smuggling activities, said in an interview with FENA Dženan Jusufović, director of the Center against Art Smuggling (CPKU).
"When we talk about the topic of the illegal trade in stolen art, Bosnia and Herzegovina is no exception when it comes to the Balkan smuggling route. The countries of the Western Balkans are very attractive for this type of criminal activity, whether it is transit or the final destination of stolen works of art. It must be known that 6.3 percent of the illegal trade in stolen art in the world takes place in Southeast Europe," he said.
Jusufović further states that according to Interpol, the illegal trade in cultural goods and art ranks third immediately after the arms and drugs trade. Security experts are united in the view that the Balkan smuggling route functioned and survived regardless of the historical events in this area. Depending on global events, the intensity, types of goods, or the way of smuggling can change, but it is difficult to change the route in the geographical sense.
The latest report from EUROPOL and EMLDDA states that organized crime groups are adapting their ways of work to the current situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, using secure communication channels, applications that encrypt conversations such as Telegram and Signal.
The report states that anti-money laundering regulators and other professionals in the sector should anticipate and prevent attempts by organized criminal groups that could take advantage of the volatile economic situation to launder money earned from drug trafficking by taking over failed businesses, buying real estate, and artwork. It also points to the possibility of organized criminal groups taking advantage of the poor economic situation and more corrupt local authorities and law enforcement officials.
"The report mentions the 'Balkan cartel' through the international police operation 'Falkusha', in which the term was publicly used to describe former clans, groups, gangs from the Balkans," says Jusufović.
Domestic and foreign media often use the term "Balkan smuggling route", which has been well-known in recent years as two global problems have intensified - terrorism and migration. A report by the UN Department of Narcotics (UNODC), as well as Interpol and Europol, and the US and other international organizations continue to point out that the Balkan smuggling route is one of the busiest and most exploited smuggling routes in the world. The most commonly smuggled goods are hard liquor, cigars, textiles... However, the most lucrative earnings are from drugs, weapons, human and organ trafficking, and the illicit art trade.
"It should also be noted that art smuggling is done on the Internet and the so-called darknet, social media, through secure encrypted communication applications, which further aggravates the problem for police and other investigative bodies. Thus, in 2019, after the BBC published a report on the theft of works of art from the Middle East and their resale on social networks, Facebook issued a statement claiming that it had blocked 49 groups that were connected to the illicit trade in antiquities. Ancient treasures are offered on social media, and Facebook groups advertising such items quickly expanded their offering, first in the early Arab Spring and later during the wars that followed in the Middle East. Although ISIL was defeated in the Middle East, stolen works of art are still resold on the black market," said Jusufović.
In addition to still unresolved cases concerning the return of a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the work of art titled "Magdalena" by Đoko Mazalić from the private collection of Enver and Damirka Mulabdić, which is on Interpol's search for works of art and is known to be in the Republic of Serbia, we also have an international scandal caused by the Orthodox relic affair.
Jusufović points out that Bosnia and Herzegovina must give an answer as to how the above-mentioned Orthodox icon found itself on its territory with a high-ranking representative of the government and its improper return to the territory of BiH. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a signatory to the UNESCO Convention of 1970 as well as the UNIDROIT Convention of 1995, which deals with measures to prohibit and prevent the import and export of cultural goods, and in accordance with those conventions, it has the obligation to implement them.
"In previous years, stolen works of art arrived in the West from Greece and Italy, but in recent years the Western Balkan route has increased its presence in this type of crime, as shown by the 2019 and 2020 cases. In April 2019, the Croatian Ministry of the Interior stopped the shipment at the Bajakovo border crossing. Ancient money dating from the 5th century BC to the 16th century AD, minted in the Middle East, Greece, Turkey and the Black Sea, was confiscated on the border crossing. These were 2,963 antique coins with a total value of around 2.2 million HRK. The second case happened in Serbia, where the customs officers of the Republic of Serbia, in cooperation with the police, discovered and prevented an attempt to smuggle a rich archeological collection from Ukraine with over 2,000 antiques from different periods at the Srpska Crnja border crossing on the night of December 29, 2020," said Jusufović.
Two seizures at the end of 2020 show that Bosnia and Herzegovina is no exception. The first happened in November 2020, when the border police officers at the Tuzla Airport seized 18 fourfold gold ducats with the image of Emperor Franz Joseph. The second seizure took place in December 2020, when the Border Police officers at the Orašje border crossing confiscated 44 gold ducats again with the image of Franz Joseph.
The establishment of a National Database on Missing Arts and a Specialized Police Unit for Illegal Trade in Stolen Art is necessary in order for Bosnia and Herzegovina to adequately respond to challenges related in particular to the issue of the illicit art trade.
"The neglect on this issue leads to destabilization of the country, which also represents an impact on the very security, considering that funds from these criminal activities are used to finance various segments of organized crime, as well as the financing of terrorism," says Jusufović.
Regarding the awareness of citizens about the importance of this issue, as well as the protection of cultural property in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Center against Art Smuggling has worked to raise public awareness with its international and domestic partners.
"For this purpose alone, at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, we produced a video "How to protect cultural heritage", and a brochure 'Let's preserve our cultural property'. Both the brochure and the video contain the number the crime-catcher unit 'KRIMOLOVAC - 080 020 505', of the State Investigation and Protection Agency SIPA, to which citizens can anonymously report information about the commission of criminal acts related to the illegal trade in works of art, as well as the destruction or theft of cultural property.
This project was implemented in cooperation with the OSCE Mission to BiH, and these materials can be downloaded and found on the Center's website. Finally, the Center against Art Smuggling, with its domestic and international partners, including the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the French Embassy in BiH, the British Council, the Agency for Education and Professional Development of the BiH Ministry of Security, CEST of the Federation of BiH, CEST of the entity of Republika Srpska, as well as museums, galleries, libraries, experts and a large number of a wide network of our partners in the world to continue with the implementation of activities aimed at strengthening the capacity of BiH to prevent illegal trade in stolen art and protection of cultural property in Bosnia and Herzegovina," concluded Jusufović in an interview with FENA.
(FENA) S. R.
