THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA AND THE SUPREME STATE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF MONTENEGRO HELD A MEETING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL

The central topics of the meeting pertained to the concrete implementation of the Protocol on Cooperation in Prosecution of Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and Genocide.

A meeting between Mr. Goran Salihović, Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Veselin Vučković, Acting Supreme State Prosecutor of Montenegro and Ms. Đurđina Nina Ivanović, Special Prosecutor, and their deputies and associates was held on the premises of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The central topics of the meeting pertained to the concrete cooperation in some cases, based on the Protocol on Cooperation in Prosecution of Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and Genocide, which was signed in Brussels in late April this year.

Direct cooperation between the Prosecutor’s Offices of the two respective States is very important, since the work on war crimes cases has revealed the fact that there are some cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina in which suspected perpetrators are residing in the territory of Montenegro; also, the Montenegrin judiciary is prosecuting some cases of war crimes in which victims and witnesses may be residing in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  

The cooperation of these two Prosecutor’s Offices is an important step in preventing war crimes from remaining unpunished because the suspected perpetrators of these crimes are residing in the territory of the other State. 

At the meeting held today, there were some discussions about a few concrete cases; however, at this point we cannot provide the public with more details on those cases, due to the need to protect the investigation. Moreover, the issue of appointing Liaison Officers to assist in facilitating the cooperation between the Prosecutor’s Offices of the two respective States was also discussed at this meeting.

The realization of this cooperation based on the Protocol has been strongly supported by the institutions of the European Union as a significant step towards the development of the rule of law and strengthening judicial cooperation in the region, which is also an important segment that has been emphasized as such in the Structured Dialogue on the reform of the judiciary. 

The meeting in Sarajevo, held at the highest-level, is the second meeting held after the signing of the Protocol and this cooperation will continue in the future.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina resumes its activities of strengthening regional cooperation between the respective Prosecutor’s Offices, for the purpose of efficient prosecution of all types of crime committed in the territories of several states, and for the sake of preserving the rule of law and creating a safer environment on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European path.