MEETING OF THE HIGHEST-RANKING OFFICIALS OF THE BIH PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE, REPUBLIC PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE AND WAR CRIMES PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA HELD IN BELGRADE

At the Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Serbia, a meeting was held between the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina Gordana Tadić and her associates, and the Republic Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia Zagorka Dolovac, and the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia Snežana Stanojković.

The War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia Snežana Stanojković informed the Chief Prosecutor Gordana Tadić and the delegation of Bosnia and Herzegovina that the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Serbia had filed an Indictment No. KTO-5/21 against the suspect Edin Vranj, for the criminal offense of War Crimes against Prisoners of War, referred to in Article 144 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Pursuant to the regulations governing regional cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Law on International Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and the Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on Legal Assistance in Civil and Criminal Matters, the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office will submit a proposal to the War Crimes Department of the High Court in Belgrade, for the transfer of criminal prosecution in this case to the judicial authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In view of the fact that this is a detention case, urgent action of the High Court in Belgrade is expected.

This event represents a major step forward in cooperation in war crimes cases between the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Serbia.

The meeting discussed the improvement of regional cooperation in all cases, especially in war crimes cases. It was agreed that both prosecutors’ offices would review all cases together and exchange all necessary information, so that the injured parties could be sure that the cases would be resolved in a professional manner, regardless of the country in which the proceedings were conducted.

This way of working, as well as regional cooperation in the fight against impunity for war crimes, was supported by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), Mr. Serge Brammertz, at the last regional conference held in Belgrade on the 20^th and 21^st of September 2021.