Regional meeting of prosecutors dealing with war crimes held in Belgrade

The Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia hosted a high-level meeting of prosecutors from the region on co-operation in war crimes proceedings. The participants included representatives from the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), prosecutors from the Federation of BiH, Republika Srpska BiH and Brčko District BiH, representatives from the Special Prosecutor’s Office of Montenegro as well as the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism). The regional gathering was convened and organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia with support of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the European Union, within the multi-partner project Facility supporting the Strengthening Rule of Law in the Republic of Serbia, financed by the EU and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and development (BMZ), whose implementation is in charge of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, ADA, CPMA and OSCE Mission to Serbia.

The high-level conference was organized in Belgrade on 10 and 11 October 2022. There were more than 35 participants including representatives of the Prosecutor’s Offices’ from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and the Mechanism, representatives of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Court of Appeals in Belgrade and the High Court in Belgrade as well as staff from the EU Delegation and UNDP.

The Minister of Justice in the Republic of Serbia, Ms. Maja Popović, the deputy Republic Public Prosecutor Ms. Tamara Mirović, the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia, Ms. Snežana Stanojković, the Chief Prosecutor of the Mechanism, Mr. Serge Brammertz, the Head of OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Jan Braathu, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ms. Anke Konrad and the Chargé d’affaires of  European Union Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, Ms. Plamena Halacheva welcomed the participants during the opening remarks. In the working session, the prosecutors discussed a variety of topics from the transfer of cases to support to victims and witnesses, missing persons and future cooperation, amongst other issues.

The next annual gathering of this kind is expected to take place in autumn 2023.