SARAJEVO, May 14 (RAPSI) - The defense of the president of Bosnia's autonomous Muslim-Croat federation has complained to the Constitutional Court that his human rights have been violated while in custody on corruption charges, the Oslobodjenje daily reports on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, Zivko Budimir's attorneys believe that the charges of politically motivated. Lawyer Ragib Hadzic said the defense is trying to appeal the legality of the searches and the special police operation that resulted in Budimir's arrest in his office in the presidium building on April 26.

Budimir is suspected of taking bribes to pardon convicts. A total of 20 people were detained on suspicion of corruption, abuse of power, drug trafficking and organized crime. The police have seized documents related to the Federal Pardons Commission, computers, mobile phones, SIM cards, and several other items.

The details of the operation have not been disclosed. According to the Sarajevo-based newspaper Dnevni Avaz, a large sum of money was found in Budimir's safe, whose origin he could not explain. The newspaper reported that the suspects were trailed and their phones were tapped for months, and that the police have recordings of the president speaking on the phone about a "remuneration."

It is rumored that Budimir charged 30,000 Convertible Marks or 15,000 for one year of clemency. On April 28, a Bosnian court approved Budimir's detainment and the detention of four other officials for 30 days on corruption charges, local media reported.

The predominantly Muslim Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Serb-run Republika Srpska compose Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each has its own president, government, parliament, police and other bodies. Budimir's arrest came amid a protracted political crisis in the federation that paralyzed the main government bodies in the country.