Muhamed Sacirbey
Muhamed Sacirbey | |
---|---|
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 28 May 1995 – 1 January 1996 | |
Prime Minister | Haris Silajdžić |
Preceded by | Irfan Ljubijankić |
Succeeded by | Jadranko Prlić (as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina) |
Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassador to the United Nations | |
In office 22 May 1992 – 2000 | |
Preceded by | Office established |
Personal details | |
Born | Muhamed Šaćirbegović 20 July 1956 Investment Banker, Diplomat |
Muhamed "Mo" Sacirbey (born 20 July 1956), born as Muhamed Šaćirbegović, is a Bosnian-American lawyer, businessman, and diplomat. He rose to prominence in the 1990s when Bosnia and Herzegovina appointed him to be their ambassador to the United Nations. Sacirbey also served briefly as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Early life
Muhamed Sacirbey was born Muhamed Šaćirbegović in
In 1963, the family left SFY Yugoslavia due to his father's and mother's anti-communist politics (both had spent time in prison for their activities) and lived for a while in
Sacirbey attended
Sacirbey has a younger brother Omar, who is a journalist in Boston.[3] In the 1990s, a street was named after their mother, Aziza, in Sarajevo.
Bosnian War
When the
In May 1995, the foreign minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Irfan Ljubijankić was assassinated. Sacirbey was appointed to replace him for a brief period. Sacirbey also had become Bosnia's Agent before the International Court of Justice leading the country's genocide case against Serbia/Montenegro from outset from 1993 to 2001. Sacirbey was also instrumental in seeing the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and was informal representative as well as witness many years later from 2003 until 2009.
In November 1995, he accompanied the Bosnian delegation to the peace negotiations in Dayton, Ohio. The settlement came to be known as the Dayton Agreement. During the talks, Sacirbey actually delivered his resignation as foreign minister to protest what he perceived as accommodation of Serbia's strongman Slobodan Milošević and legitimization of ethnic cleansing. Subsequently, Sacirbey alleged that a "yellow light" had been given to Milošević by US and European representatives to overrun the UN and NATO protected "safe areas" of Srebrenica, Žepa and Goražde. He has testified to such effect before the ICTY.
Sacirbey also represented Bosnia to the Rome negotiations on the International Criminal Court (ICC), and after successfully working to incorporate "gender based" crimes and eliminate the death penalty (with an accomplished team of young jurists incorporated into his delegation), was a subsequent signatory on the Rome Treaty. Sacirbey had been an advocate and active in the establishment of the ICC and became Vice-Chair of the Prep Committee on the ICC.
Controversy
After the war, Sacirbey continued to serve as ambassador to the UN until late 2000. Upon leaving this position, rumors of financial irregularities in the Bosnian UN mission began to circulate. In 2001, the Bosnian government began to investigate Sacirbey on suspicion "of abuse of office" for purportedly expending funds for purposes not authorized including Bosnia's "genocide case" against Serbia/Montenegro before the International Court of Justice.
Sacirbey denied allegations of any improper use of funds and said the entire affair was fabricated by political opponents in Bosnia and the United States. He also stated he spent up to $800,000 of his own money to cover Bosnia's diplomatic expenses. Although there was no indictment, formal charges or even formal investigation, on 29 January 2002, the Bosnian government formally asked the US to extradite Sacirbey. Sacirbey had offered to deliver himself should such be requested. However, he was arrested on 25 March 25 2003 at his home in
Sacirbey from the outset contended that the U.S. Government was dictating the extradition request upon obedient Bosnian authorities, including misrepresenting the status of any "investigation" in Bosnia or alleged abuse of office. On 19 January 2005, he was certified by a federal magistrate in New York as extraditable. Sacirbey appealed his certification by filing a habeas corpus petition on 21 March 2005 before a federal district judge. In September 2006, the district judge denied his petition for habeas corpus relief and ruled that he was extraditable. Sacirbey appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
On 9 December 2009, the appeals court ruled that Sacirbey could not be extradited. Further, the Court cited Sacirbey's exemplary service and questionable political circumstances of the case. Finally, the Court concluded that the US Government had no obligation to extradite Sacirbey, should not have pursued the matter in the first place and on the basis of evidence/case presented not to repeat the mistake.[5]
Works
Further reading
- Sacirbey Out on Bail
- US Court Rules Former Bosnian Foreign Minister Eligible for Extradition
- Legal document from the US District Court
- Sacirbey testimony to the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia 15 June 2009.
- Sacirbey testimony to the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia 16 June 2009.
- Sacirbey testimony to the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia 17 June 2009.
- Sacirbey testimony to the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia 18 June 2009.
- Sacirbey testimony to the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia 19 June 2009.[permanent dead link]
- "Sestre su sada dame, braća gospoda - a drugovi krivci" (in Serbo-Croatian). BH Dani. 16 July 1999. Retrieved 9 April 2015.