News in English     | 18.12.2019. 13:30 |

Regional meeting of prosecutors on cooperation in war crimes proceedings

FENA Kanita Aliagić

SARAJEVO, December 18 (FENA) – Chief prosecutors of Bosnia and Herzegovina and surrounding countries working on war crimes cases gathered today for the first time in Sarajevo at a regional meeting on cooperation in war crimes proceedings.

Delegations from the Prosecutor's Offices of Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, and the Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), Serge Brammertz were welcomed by Chief Prosecutor of BiH Gordana Tadić. She stressed the importance of regional cooperation in the conduct of criminal proceedings in war crimes cases.

She noted that a large number of war crimes cases have regional character.

"The location and evidence may be located in the territory of one state, and the victim and witnesses, suspects and accused, may reside in the territory of another state in the region and vice versa," said Tadić.

She also added that there are different criminal justice systems, lack of legal framework regulating regional cooperation, such as extradition of one's own nationals or preventing access to files and evidence from other countries, which could have negative consequences for the conduct of war crimes cases.

Serge Brammertz attended the regional conference, organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in cooperation with the Prosecutor's Office of BiH and with the support of the Government of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Italy, emphasizing that he will continue to assist the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, which has taken over all standards of The Hague Tribunal, as well as assist in promoting regional cooperation.

Today's meeting of prosecutors from BiH and the region is extremely important to Brammertz, as the meeting will point out not only problems but also find solutions.

"The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague has been closed, and now it is the responsibility of the state prosecutor's offices in the region to initiate trials, because the success of war crimes prosecutions depends on joint cooperation," said Brammertz.

UNDP Resident Representative to BiH Steliana Nedera and Deputy Head of the British Embassy in BiH Ruth Wiseman stressed the importance of the conference, as cooperation with countries in the region is required in many cases, and no prosecutor's office has all the information available.

Therefore, as Wiseman said, to ensure justice for victims of horrific crimes, prosecutors must cooperate closely, as better flow of information will result in joint investigations and records to ensure that more cases are prosecuted in the courts.

"It is important that we provide better procedures to support victims and witnesses. During these challenging times, as we have now, the UK Government will remain a partner in supporting regional efforts," Wiseman closed.

Chief prosecutors Veselin Vučković (Montenegro), Snežana Stanojković (Republic of Serbia) and Dražen Jelenić (Republic of Croatia) also made an outstanding contribution to the conference, as well as representatives of the international community, the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, UNDP, the Embassies of Italy and the United Kingdom in BiH.

(FENA) A. B.

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