Free Muhamed Sacirbey

We, the undersigned, are asking the U.S. Government and the world to free the former U.N. ambassador to Bosnia, Muhamed Sacirbey, to be freed from the Metropolitan Correction Center Prison in downtown Manhattan. He has been there without bond since he was arrested on March 25, 2003. He is currently facing extradition charges to Bosnia. They have issued an arrest warrant on him because he is accused of steeling $2.3 Million during his time as the U.N. ambassador. He is afraid for his safety and that he wont get a fair trial in Bosnia.

The Sacirbey affair began in mid-2000, when auditors from the Bosnian Foreign Ministry started raising concerns about the mission's finances.

Sacirbey left the mission in December 2000. He said his departure had nothing to do with the audit and was due to his deep disenchantment with Bosnian politics and the fact that he was suffering from depression.

The case took a decisive turn in early 2001 when one of Sacirbey's political rivals, a Bosnian Serb leader named Zlatko Lagumdzija, became foreign minister. Lagumdzija immediately set up a special committee to investigate Sacirbey. The panel was headed by Ivica Misic, Sacirbey's longtime deputy in New York who had become one of his fiercest adversaries. A Sarajevo judge issued an arrest warrant in late 2001.

This case has not gone anywhere since he was arrested in March, 2003.

In court and in filings, Sacirbey, who is representing himself, asked the American judge to free him on bail to prepare his defense. The judge refused, saying bond in extradition cases is granted only in "special circumstances."

The Bosnian government as not produced any evidence of the alleged embezzlement of Bosnian funds. This case should be immediately thrown out. We are asking the U.S. government to free Mo!