Delegation of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH met with officials of the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade. It was agreed to realize cooperation on concrete cases and render assistance to colleagues from Serbia in the prosecution of the case of a war crime committed in Štrbac.
The officials of the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, namely Deputy Chief Prosecutors Vesna Budimir and Dragan Čorlija, and Prosecutor Ibro Bulić, had a two-day visit to Belgrade, where they met with the highest-ranking officials of the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of Serbia headed by Prosecutor Milan Petrović.
This meeting represents continuation of activities in accordance with the Protocol on Cooperation in Prosecution of Perpetrators of Criminal Offenses of War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and Genocide.
Prosecutors discussed the concrete cooperation on such cases where, for the purpose of further prosecution, mutual assistance of Prosecutor’s Offices of BiH and Serbia is required.
Colleagues from Belgrade asked the delegation of Prosecutors from BiH for assistance in finding mortal remains of war crimes victims kidnapped from the train in Štrpci, whose mortal remains are assumed to be in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH committed itself to maximally assist colleagues from Serbia in finding and exhuming these mortal remains.
Prosecutors from BiH informed their colleagues from Serbia about the cases against more than 30 persons whose prosecution in BiH could not be realized because, according to all available information, they are residing in the territory of Serbia.
Among these persons, there are those against whom an Indictment has been issued in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Colleagues from Srebia offered strong assurances that they would check whether the aforementioned persons were in Serbia, after which further steps regarding their prosecution would be agreed on.
At this meeting, it was also agreed that the next meeting would be held in August in Sarajevo, at the highest level, attended by Chief Prosecutors Vladimir Vukčević and Goran Salihović.
The realization of this cooperation pursuant to the Protocol on Cooperation in Prosecution of Perpetrators of Criminal Offenses of War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and Genocide, represents a positive development in fighting impunity of war crimes, and this cooperation is also supported by the European Union, in accordance with the Conclusions of the Structured Dialogue on Judicial Reform.
The meeting at the highest level, between Chief Prosecutors of BiH and Croatia, Goran Salihović and Mladen Bajić respectively, is planned to be held next week in Sarajevo, and the issues of concrete cooperation and mutual assistance in accordance with the signed Protocol will also be discussed.
The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH welcomes positive developments occurring after the signing of the Protocol on Cooperation in Prosecution of Perpetrators of Criminal Offenses of War Crimes, so that all activities could be undertaken for the purpose of preventing war crimes perpetrators from evading prosecution in future just because they obtain citizenships of other countries.
This mutual cooperation represents a positive step in light of European integrations of the countries in the region for the purpose of strengthening of rule of law and reconciliation, as well as in order to achieve justice and thus meet the expectations of war crimes victims.