Republic’s Public Prosecutor, Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor and BH Prosecutor meet to discuss cooperation in war crimes cases
Ms Zagorka Dolovac, the Republic’s Public Prosecutor, hosted a meeting with Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Snežana Stanojković and BH Prosecutor’s delegation headed by Chief Prosecutor Gordana Tadić.
The Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor informed the BH Prosecutor and her team that the Office of the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor (OWCP) had raised an indictment (KTO-5/21) against Edin Vranj on suspicion of involvement in the criminal offence under article 144 (war crime against prisoners of war) of the FRY Criminal Act.
Based on the regulations governing regional cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Act on International Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina on Cooperation in Civil and Criminal Matters, the OWCP will file a motion with the War Crimes Department – part of the Higher Court in Belgrade to refer criminal prosecution in the aforementioned case to the relevant BH authorities.
Given the fact that this is a detention case, the Higher Court in Belgrade is expected to respond promptly to the Prosecutor’s motion.
The development marks a great breakthrough in cooperation on war crimes cases between the Offices of the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor and BH Prosecutor.
The meeting addressed the improvement of regional cooperation in all cases, with particular reference to war crimes cases. The Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor and her BH counterpart agreed to go through all cases and exchange all relevant information with a view to ensuring the victims that their cases would be resolved in a professional manner irrespective of the country where proceedings are conducted.
This manner of work alongside regional cooperation in fighting impunity for war crimes was also supported by Mr Serge Brammertz, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), at the latest Regional Conference held in Belgrade on 20 and 21 September 2021.
