Zlatko Lagumdžija (born 26 December 1955) is a Bosnian
diplomat
A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
and politician serving as
Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations since July 2023. He previously served as
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
from 2001 to 2002 and from 2012 to 2015. Lagumdžija was also
from 2001 to 2002. He was president of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Form ...
(SDP BiH) from 1997 to 2014.
Lagumdžija was born in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
in 1955. His father Salko was
mayor of Sarajevo in the 1960s. Lagumdžija graduated from the
University of Sarajevo
The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...
in 1981. He did postdoctoral research at the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
. Subsequently, he taught at the University of Sarajevo and later chaired the department of
management information system
A management information system (MIS) is an information system used for decision-making, and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization. The study of the management information systems involves peo ...
at the
Economics Faculty.
Lagumdžija began his political career during the
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
as deputy
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
of the
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Република Босна и Херцеговина, separator=" / ") was a state in Southeastern Europe, existing from 1992 to 1995. It is the direct lega ...
, advising then-president
Alija Izetbegović
Alija Izetbegović (; 8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosnian politician, Islamic philosophy, Islamic philosopher and author, who in 1992 became the first Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, president of the Presidency ...
. He accompanied Izetbegović at almost all of the
peace plan negotiations during the war.
In the
2000 parliamentary election, the SDP BiH formed a coalition with the
Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina to gain the majority and force the nationalist parties out of power. Lagumdžija became both the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the
Council of Ministers
Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...
. The SDP BiH-led government facilitated the passage of the Election Law, a prerequisite to Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession to the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
. Lagumdžija's party led the government until the
2002 general election, when the nationalist parties were elected back into power. He then served as member of the national
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
.
As president of the SDP BiH, Lagumdžija took part in many
constitutional reform talks, most notably in those regarding the
2010–2012 government formation. Following the
2010 general election and the SDP BiH's emergence as the largest party in the House of Representatives, a government was formed around the SDP BiH and the
Alliance of Independent Social Democrats
The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (; abbr. СНСД or SNSD) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serb Serbian nationalism, nationalist political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Republika ...
, with Lagumdžija once again becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving until 2015. Following the
2014 general election and a poor showing of the SDP BiH, he resigned as president of the party. In 2019, he was removed from the SDP BiH due to political activity in his own new political party.
Lagumdžija is a member of the
Club of Madrid, an independent
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
created to promote
democracy
Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
and change in the
international community
The international community is a term used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world.
Usage
Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is typically used to imply the ...
.
Education
Lagumdžija earned his high school diploma as a part of the
Youth For Understanding exchange student program in
Allen Park,
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
in 1973.
His subsequent education was at the
University of Sarajevo
The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...
, where he earned a
BS in 1977, an
MS in 1981 and a
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in 1988 in the field of
Computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
and
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
.
In 1989, as a
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
participant, Lagumdžija did postdoctoral research at the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
in the Department of Management Information Systems and the Center for the
Management of Information.
Academic career
Lagumdžija began teaching at the
University of Sarajevo
The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...
in 1989 as a professor of
management information system
A management information system (MIS) is an information system used for decision-making, and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization. The study of the management information systems involves peo ...
and informatics at the
Economics Faculty and Projected Information Systems and Group Support Systems at the
Electrical Engineering Faculty.
He served as the chair of the department of Management and Information Systems at the Economics Faculty since 1994 and the director of the director of the Management and Information Technologies Center (an organizational unit of the Economics Faculty) since 1995.
Lagumdžija's particular academic interests lie in the areas of Group Support Systems and management information systems. He is the author of six books and over a hundred papers in the field of management information systems.
At the end of the
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
, Lagumdžija helped to secure funds from the
Soros Foundation
Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the st ...
with which to rebuild the Group Support System facility at the University of Sarajevo. To create the facility, Lagumdžija worked with Douglas Vogel and Mark Adkins from the University of Arizona where generations of group support systems software and facilities have been built." The strategic objective of the Management and Information Technologies Center, which housed the GSS facility, was to "assist and promote the transition of Bosnia and Herzegovina to a democratic, market-driven economy."
As part of that mandate, the Center held sessions for key business and government leaders as well as students at the University of Sarajevo utilizing GSS technology to assist them in thinking about and planning for the
economic reconstruction
Economic reconstruction is a process for creating a proactive vision of economic change. The most basic idea is that problems in the economy, such as deindustrialization, environmental decay, outsourcing, industrial incompetence, poverty and a ...
of
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
.
Political career
Wartime political career

Lagumdžija began his political career during the
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
as
deputy prime minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
, advising then-president
Alija Izetbegović
Alija Izetbegović (; 8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosnian politician, Islamic philosophy, Islamic philosopher and author, who in 1992 became the first Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, president of the Presidency ...
.
In one particular case he advised him not to sign the
Vance–Owen Peace Plan: "Mr Izetbegović was not endorsing it, but thinking out loud and saying perhaps the plan would not be so bad, that we could live with it. And some of us told him, 'Anyone who signs this plan will be dead, and not just politically…'" he told a ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reporter in February 1993.
Izetbegović signed the peace plan in March 1993. In May 1992, Lagumdžija was with Izetbegović, Izetbegović’s daughter Sabina and his bodyguard, returning from the
Lisbon negotiations, when they were surrounded at the
Sarajevo International Airport
Sarajevo International Airport () () () is the main international airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located southwest of the Sarajevo main railway station, Sarajevo railway station an ...
by the
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...
, kidnapped and driven in a convoy to
Lukavica, in Serb-held territory.
In April 1993, Lagumdžija met with a group of citizens from
Srebrenica
Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa.
During the Bosnian War in 1995, Srebr ...
who had journeyed through the Serb lines to
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
. They informed him of the desperate situation of Srebrenica and the eastern Bosnian enclaves. In an effort to highlight the plight of Srebrenica, Lagumdžija suspended humanitarian aid donations for Sarajevo until aid was delivered to the eastern enclaves. A month later,
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
(UN) Commander
Philippe Morillon visited Srebrenica and declared the citizens under the protection of the UN.
Post-war political career
As a member of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Form ...
(SDP BiH), Lagumdžija served as member of the national
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
from 2002 to 2012. He was the president of the SDP BiH from 1997 to 2014.
At the
2000 parliamentary election, the SDP BiH formed a coalition with the
Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina, a party founded and led by former wartime prime minister
Haris Silajdžić
Haris Silajdžić (; born 1 October 1945) is a Bosnian politician and academic who served as the 5th Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2006 to 2010. He was the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegov ...
, to gain the majority and force the nationalist parties out of power. They gathered a coalition of many other small parties to create the "Alliance for Change". Lagumdžija became the
Foreign Minister
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
, a post he served in from 2001 until 2002, and
Chairman of the Council of Ministers, serving until 2002. After protracted negotiations, disagreements and delays, he signed the
on behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
When the SDP BiH came into political power on a platform of economic reform and anti-corruption, Lagumdžija was lauded by the
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
powers as the hopeful "face of a pluralistic, united Bosnia." The SDP BiH-led government facilitated the passage of the Election Law, which was not only an important step towards democracy, but also a prerequisite to Bosnia's accession to the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
. The SDP BiH led the
coalition government
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
until the October
2002 general election, when the public, dissatisfied at the pace of political reform, elected the nationalist parties back into power.
On 18 May 2019, Lagumdžija was removed from the SDP BiH due to his political activity in his own new political party, the Social Democratic Movement, which was in the process of being founded, and which was also supported by
Bosnian Presidency member and former SDP BiH vice-president
Željko Komšić
Željko Komšić (; born 20 January 1964) is a Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Croat politician serving as the List of Croat members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 6th and current Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia a ...
.
2010–2012 government formation
Following the
2010 general election, a process of
formation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's
Council of Ministers
Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...
(i.e. the national government) had begun. The resulting election produced a fragmented political landscape without a coalition of a parliamentary majority more than a year after the election. The SDP BiH, led by Lagumdžija, and the
Bosnian Serb
The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби Босне и Херцеговине, Srbi Bosne i Hercegovine), often referred to as Bosnian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, босански Срби, bosanski Srbi) or Herzegovinian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, � ...
autonomist
Alliance of Independent Social Democrats
The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (; abbr. СНСД or SNSD) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serb Serbian nationalism, nationalist political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Republika ...
(SNSD), each had 8 MPs of the total 42 MPs of the House of Representatives.
The major
Croat
The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...
(
HDZ BiH and
HDZ 1990) and Serb parties (SNSD and
SDS) contended that a
gentlemen's agreement
A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding wikt:agreement, agreement between two or more parties. It is typically Oral contract, oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspok ...
existed in which the chairmanship of the Council of Ministers rotates between the three constitutional nationalities. In this case, it would be the turn for a Croat politician to chair the Council. As the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) and the Croatian Democratic Union 1990 (HDZ 1990) received the overwhelming share of Croat votes in the 2010 general election, the parties demanded that a member of one of them receive the position of Chairman. The SDP BiH on the other hand, claimed that the only necessity is the ethnicity of the individual, and not the party, demanding the right to appoint a Croat Chairman from SDP BiH ranks, calling upon the right of having assumed most votes nationwide.

The
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
and the
Office of the High Representative repeatedly attempted negotiations to appease the
Bosniak
The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...
–Bosnian and Serb–Croat divided political blocs, in parallel to the
Bosnian constitutional crisis, all ending in failure. The Bosniak-Bosnian coalition insisted that the seat would have to go to them as the party that received the largest number of votes, while the Serb–Croat alliance insisted that due to the fact that according to tradition, the next Chairman of the Council of Ministers must be an ethnic Croat, it must come from an authentic Croat party (Croatian Democratic Union), and not the multi-ethnic SDP BiH.
A round of talks between party leaders was held in
Mostar
Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina.
Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...
on 5 September 2011, hosted by Croat politicians
Božo Ljubić and
Dragan Čović, with
Milorad Dodik
Milorad Dodik ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад Додик, ; born 12 March 1959) is a Bosnian Serb politician currently serving as the 8th president of Republika Srpska since 2022, a position he previously held from 2010 to 2018. He also served as ...
,
Mladen Bosić,
Sulejman Tihić
Sulejman Tihić (26 November 1951 – 25 September 2014) was a Bosnian politician who served as the 4th List of Bosniak members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 to 2 ...
and Lagumdžija in attendance. The parties agreed to a further round of discussion in mid-September. A meeting between the six major party leaders was held in Sarajevo on 15 September, hosted by Lagumdžija. Topics discussed at the meeting included holding a national census, military assets and the
Sejdić-Finci ruling. On the same day, an EU spokesperson warned that the country risked losing funding through the
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance if the political situation did not stabilize. Another meeting on 26 September 2011 failed as well.
An agreement was finally reached on 28 December 2011 between the six political parties: the Social Democratic Party, the
Party of Democratic Action (SDA), the Croatian Democratic Union, the Croatian Democratic Union 1990, the Serb Democratic Party and the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats.
Vjekoslav Bevanda, a Bosnian Croat, became the new Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
Following the government's formation and Bevanda's appointment, Lagumdžija again became Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving until 2015.
Constitutional reform
As “credible efforts” towards the implementation of the Sejdić–Finci ruling remained the outstanding condition for the entry into force of the
Stabilisation and Association Agreement
In talks with countries that have expressed a wish to join the European Union, the EU typically concludes European Union Association Agreement, Association Agreements in exchange for commitments to political, economic, trade, or human rights ref ...
, in June 2012, Czech Commissioner
Štefan Füle
Štefan Füle (born 24 May 1962) is a former Czech Republic, Czech diplomat who served as the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy from February 2010 until October 2014.
Early life and education
Füle was born ...
launched a High Level Dialogue on the Accession Process (HLAD) with Bosnia and Herzegovina, tackling both the Sejdić–Finci issue and the need for a coordination mechanism for the country to speak with a single voice in the accession process. Talks were held in June and November 2012, with little success.
[Davide Denti]
''The European Union and Member State Building in Bosnia and Herzegovina'', PhD thesis, University of Trento, 2018
In the summer of 2012, HDZ BiH leader Dragan Čović and Lagumdžija agreed on the indirect election of the Bosnian Presidency members by the
Bosnian Parliament, but the deal was not turned into detailed amendments. The HDZ BiH kept calling for electoral reform to prevent new
Komšić cases. The same Željko Komšić left the SDP BiH shortly after, in dissent with the agreement which would have excluded him from acceding to power again. The SDA also opposed it, as it would have created a further asymmetry, with one Presidency member (from
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...
) elected directly, and two elected indirectly.
[
In February 2013, the ]European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
decided to step up its involvement, with the direct facilitation of talks by Füle, in coordination with the Council of Europe's secretary-general Thorbjørn Jagland. In March and April 2013, with the support of the Director-General for Enlargement Stefano Sannino, the EU Delegation in Sarajevo facilitated a series of direct talks between party leaders, with no concrete outcome.[
]
Controversies
Algerian Six
In the end of 2001, six citizens of Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
n origin (the so-called " Algerian Six") were accused of planning a terrorist attack on the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
. They were taken into custody in October, and the Bosnian government, headed by Lagumdžija, revoked their citizenship in November. After a 3-month-process, the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: ''Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine'' / ''Федерација Босне и Херцеговине'') is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities composing Bo ...
ordered their release based on lack of evidence.
However, Washington came out with a request for their extradition because "the U.S. still believes they are a threat to American interests and that the US Government refused to publicly disclose evidence to the court in Bosnia and Herzegovina because it would endanger its methods of intelligence-gathering." While the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina was deciding about this request, protests broke out in front of the Sarajevo prison. Eventually, Lagumdžija's government yielded to the demand, and the six were deported to Guantánamo Bay
Guantánamo Bay (, ) is a bay in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and it is surrounded by steep hills which create an enclave that is cut off from its immediate hint ...
. In 2009, an investigation by the Cantonal prosecution of Sarajevo against Lagumdžija, the ex- Federal Minister of Interior Tomislav Limov and others involved was launched but later dropped. Another one was launched three years later, but it was dropped quickly too. Two of the three that returned to Bosnia still hold Lagumdžija responsible for their illegal imprisonment and filed a lawsuit against the state.
"Coup d'état affair"
In September 2003, Lagumdžija and Munir Alibabić, the former director of the Federal Intelligence and Security Service (FOSS), were accused of conspiring to take over the government by Ivan Vuksić, the FOSS director at the time. The accusations were based on the illegal recordings of telephone conversations between the two men. The Sarajevo daily paper '' Dnevni avaz'' picked up the story and ran a series of articles which attacked Lagumdžija and blamed him of being behind the August 2003 explosions that had taken place in Sarajevo. He denied the accusations and released a public statement to the court, which read in part, "Any well-informed and well-intentioned person will know that all these accusations are based on vicious lies, and that their progenitors are provoking a situation, which would bring them to face justice in court in any organized democratic state." The court dismissed the accusations, Lagumdžija eventually sued ''Dnevni avaz'' for libel and the newspaper was ordered to pay him 10,000 BAM in damages.
Personal life
Zlatko is married to Amina Lagumdžija, and has three children. His father Salko (1921–1973) was the 22nd mayor of Sarajevo from 1965 to 1967.[http://vlasenickilikovi.blogger.ba/arhiva/2010/04/16/2477096/ ]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagumdzija, Zlatko
1955 births
Living people
Diplomats from Sarajevo
Politicians from Sarajevo
Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina
University of Sarajevo alumni
Academic staff of the University of Sarajevo
European democratic socialists
Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians
Foreign ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Permanent representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations