| Press Release |
PROSECUTION
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| (Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document) |
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The Hague, 1 July 2009
OTP/OK/PR1324e
Office of the Prosecutor of the ICTY Welcomes Liaison Prosecutors
from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia to the Tribunal
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Prosecutor Serge Brammertz welcomed colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia who have arrived in The Hague where, for the next six months, they will be working side by side with staff in the Tribunal’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP).
In welcoming the colleagues from the region, Prosecutor Brammertz expressed his satisfaction with this “new phase in the excellent interaction between the Office of the Prosecutor in The Hague and prosecution offices in the region of the former Yugoslavia.” Mr. Brammertz referred to this program as “an important further step in ensuring the continuity of war crimes prosecutions well after the Tribunal fulfils its mandate.”
The three liaison prosecutors were designated by their respective public prosecution services and will conduct research and collect material for the purposes of national war crimes investigations and cases. They will have an opportunity to learn about methodologies of searching and reviewing large volumes of material as applied by OTP criminal analysts and be the contact points for colleagues in their respective national prosecution services working on war crimes investigations and cases.
The liaison prosecutors will be working closely with the OTP’s Transition Team, which is in charge of cooperation with national prosecution offices. They will also have an opportunity to assist and consult with staff of the OTP on related ICTY cases and to consult with OTP internal experts.
The Visiting National Prosecutors Program was initiated by the OTP and is funded by the European Commission. Its main purpose is to strengthen the capacity of national prosecutors to deal with the large number of war crimes cases stemming from the conflict in the former Yugoslavia through “on the job” training. This represents a direct investment in the investigation and prosecution of war crimes in the countries where those crimes will be adjudicated for many years to come.
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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