Murderer who escaped Bijeljina prison 24 years ago extradited from Switzerland

NEWS 22.10.201909:15
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Zoran Pantic, who murdered six members of the Bosniak Isic family 25 years ago, was extradited from Switzerland on Monday and is currently being held in a prison in the northeastern town of Bijeljina.

Pantic, who was sentenced to 12 years and 10 months in prison for killing the family from the central town of Teslic, was extradited on a request by the Bijeljina Basic Courts issued on December 4, 1995. He escaped the Bijeljina prison 24 years ago.

Pantic had started a new life in Switzerland and married a Swiss woman, took her surname and applied for citizenship there, the head of the Public Relations department of the Ministry of Interior in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) region, Mirna Miljanovic, explained.

“The person (Pantic) assumed the identity of his brother, he possessed his brother’s ID documents in the name Dalibor Pantic, he got married using that name and presented himself as a Serbian citizen,” Miljanovic said.

Authorities in Switzerland arrested the fugitive based on information provided by police in Republika Srpska, including Pantic’s exact address.

“This is another example of the persistent work of police officers of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs, who, 24 years after the convict escaped, have not given up their search and efforts to bring him to justice, and have at least brought a little satisfaction to the victims’ relatives,” Miljanovic said.

Lawyer Miodrag Stojanovic said that Pantic intends to ask for a retrial in his grave murder case.