25 Bosnian police officers under investigation for prostitution, UN mission says

Officials from the Bosnian Interior Ministry have launched an internal disciplinary investigation against 25 police officers suspected of involvement in prostitution, the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) reported today.

Five young women, apparently victims of human trafficking, were found after a raid of the "Roki" bar in the Vitez area, where they were forced to work as prostitutes, the UN Mission said. In their statements to the UN and local authorities, the women identified the officers as customers of the establishment and said that they had had sex with them.

"UNMIBH is very astonished about the reaction of the public prosecutor in Vitez who saw no grounds for a criminal investigation into these police officers who were customers in a bar where trafficked women were forced into prostitution and had sex with these women," the Mission said in a statement issued in Sarajevo.

The Mission said it would follow closely the Interior Ministry's internal investigation, and would take appropriate measures - pending the outcome of the probe - to deal with the implicated police officers.

Among other tasks, UNMIBH is mandated to help promote effective and professional law enforcement in Bosnia and Herzegovina.