Bosnian security chief accused of corruption in weapons sale

Bosnian Minister of Security Selmo Cikotic attends a conference on migration in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Nov. 18, 2021. Bosnia’s security minister has been formally charged with malfeasance and corruption over the irregular sale of weapons and military equipment a decade ago when he held the post of defense minister. The Balkan country’s top court on Wednesday Dec. 8, 2021, confirmed the indictment against Selmo Cikotic. (AP Photo/File)

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnia’s security minister has been formally charged with malfeasance and corruption over the irregular sale of weapons and military equipment a decade ago when he held the post of defense minister.

The Balkan country's top court on Wednesday confirmed the indictment against Selmo Cikotic, charging him of depriving the state of close to 5 million euros ($5.6 million) by changing “in breach of the legally prescribed procedure” the terms of a contract for the sale of surplus outdated weapons and military equipment in order to favor the buyer, the Croatian company SCOUT.

The indictment said Cikotic had done so “without notifying his deputies or members of (Bosnia’s tripartite) presidency.”

Bosnia is considered one of the most corruption-prone countries in Europe, partly because of the complex administrative framework but also because of the country's deep ethnic and political divisions remaining since the country's 1992-95 war.