Muhamed Sacirbey

Muhamed Sacirbey
Born	July 20, 1956 (1956-07-20) (age 55) Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nationality	Bosniak
Alma mater	Tulane University Columbia University
Occupation	Attorney, Investment Banker, Diplomat
Religion	Sunni Islam
Spouse	Susan Sacirbey
Parents	Nedžib Šaćirbegović Aziza Šaćirbegović

Muhamed Sacirbey (born July 20, 1956) is a Bosnian American lawyer, businessman and diplomat. Sacirbey rose to prominence in the 1990s when Bosnia and Herzegovina appointed him to be its ambassador to the United Nations. Sacirbey also served briefly as the Bosnian foreign minister. Subsequently he became embroiled in a controversy regarding embezzlement and misappropriation of funds belonging to the Bosnian government.

Early life

Muhamed Sacirbey was born Muhamed Šaćirbegović in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina which was then a part of the Yugoslavia (SFR Yugoslavia). Both of Sacirbey's parents were doctors. His father is Nedžib Šaćirbegović (born 1926), a friend of Alija Izetbegović, the president of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1990s. Izetbegović and Sacirbey were imprisoned for opposing the communist government of SFR Yugoslavia following World War II.

In 1963, the family left SFY Yugoslavia due to his father's anti-communist politics and lived for a while in Turkey before settling in the United States in 1967. The Šaćirbegović family lived in Parma, Ohio a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio and became naturalized citizens in 1973. It was at this point that the family name was changed to Sacirbey. Sacirbey attended Valley Forge High School in Parma Heights, Ohio

Sacirbey attended Tulane University in New Orleans on a football scholarship and subsequently received a law degree from Tulane Law School and an MBA at Columbia Business School.^[1] Sacirbey served as legal counsel to Standard & Poor's. Most of Sacirbey's professional career was spent as an investment banker on Wall Street.

Sacirbey has a younger brother Omar, who is a journalist in Boston.^[2] In the 1990s their mother Aziza had a street named after her in Sarajevo.

Bosnian War

When the Bosnian War began in April 1992, Sacirbey offered his services to the Bosnian government and became Bosnia's first ambassador to the United Nations. He began his term on May 22, 1992, the day that Bosnia and Herzegovina was admitted to the UN. During the war, he made many impassioned pleas for the lifting of the arms embargo against the Bosnian government and made repeated calls for the UN to protect the so-called safe areas from indiscriminate attacks. He traveled the world in a bid for support and funds.

In May 1995 the foreign minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Irfan Ljubijankić was assassinated. Sacirbey was appointed to replace him for a brief period.

In November 1995, he accompanied the Bosnian delegation to the peace negotiations in Dayton, Ohio. The settlement came to be known as the Dayton Accords.

Legal difficulties

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 BiH UN mission began to circulate. In 2001, the BiH government began to investigate Sacirbey on suspicion that he embezzled $0.6 million and misappropriated $1.8 million of state funds, during his tenure as ambassador. The investigation was launched by Zlatko Lagumdžija, who was the foreign minister at the time.

Sacirbey denied stealing any money and said the entire affair was fabricated by political opponents in Bosnia, particularly Serbs and those who opposed his wartime advocacy. He also stated he spent up to $800,000 of his own money to cover Bosnia's diplomatic expenses. Sacirbey has also questioned the legitimacy of the 1902 extradition treaty under which he is being extradited. The treaty is between the US and Serbia. In 1902 Bosnia was under the rule of Austria Hungary, it was not joined in a single state with Serbia until 1918.

On January 29, 2002 the BiH government formally asked the US to extradite Sacirbey. He was arrested on March 25, 2003 at his home in Staten Island. Sacirbey spent the next 16 months at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. He was released on July 27, 2004 on $6 million bail.^[3]

On January 19, 2005 he was certified by a federal magistrate in New York as extraditable. Sacirbey appealed his certification by filing a habeas corpus petition on March 21, 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 December 9, 2009 Appeals court ruled that Sacirbey could not be extradited.^[4]

References

1. ^ "Court:Ex-UN ambassador for Bosnia can stay in US". http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gBsQy_G7cYxx11q2JRWqT9-3Oc8QD9CG0P780/. 
2. ^ "Omar Sacirbey". http://www.omarsacirbey.com/. 
3. ^ "New York Times (July 3, 2004) Judge Says Bosnian Envoy May Post Bail And Leave Jail". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/03/nyregion/judge-says-bosnian-envoy-may-post-bail-and-leave-jail.html/. 
4. ^ "Circuit Ruling Halts Extradition of Former Bosnian U.N. Envoy". http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/PubArticleNY.jsp?id=1202436201981&font_colorredFreefont_Circuit_Ruling_Halts_Extradition_of_Former_Bosnian_UN_Envoy&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1/. 

External links

• Online book: A Convenient Genocide in a Fishbowl, by Mohammed Sacerbey
• 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 June 15, 2009.
• Sacirbey testimony to the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia June 16, 2009.
• Sacirbey testimony to the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia June 17, 2009.
• Sacirbey testimony to the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia June 18, 2009.
• Sacirbey testimony to the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia June 19, 2009.

Persondata
Name	Sacirbey, Muhamed
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 20, 1956
Place of birth	Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina
Date of death
Place of death