The Special State Prosecutor's Office, while working on war crimes cases during this year, i.e. until October 3, 2024, sent two requests to the countries of the region through international legal aid.
This was answered by "News" from the institution managed by the chief special prosecutor Vladimir Novović.
This is ten times less than what the SDT did in 2023, when special prosecutors sent 20 subpoenas to countries in the region - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Kosovo - during their work on war crimes cases.
Judging by the figures of the SDT, the investigators of the countries of the region repeatedly sent requests through international legal aid to the Montenegrin Special State Prosecutor's Office to provide them with information in war crimes investigations.
"In the course of 2023, 63 requests were received, of which 31 requests were received from the countries of the region. Until October 3, 2024, 32 requests were received, of which 22 were requests from the countries of the region," says SDT's response to "Vijesta".
Ever since the first Strategy for the investigation of war crimes, which was adopted in 2015, as the first area of activity it has been stated that the SDT proactively gathers information about events and perpetrators using open sources and data from international courts and prosecutor's offices, as well as prosecutor's offices of countries in the region.
In the recently adopted Strategy for the Investigation of War Crimes, and by looking at the reports on implementation, it is written that for nine years the SDT actively sent petitions and requests to prosecutors in the region, the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague (ICTY), and the International Residual Mechanism (IMRC). .
"SDT cooperated with the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague with the aim of having special prosecutors working on war crimes cases, as well as their associates, stay in The Hague. Then, that they should be given access to all the databases available to the Hague Tribunal, which refer to all court proceedings conducted before that court, in order to determine by searching the data whether there is any evidence that would indicate that Montenegrin citizens have committed criminal acts commits a war crime, which could be used as evidence before the competent court in Montenegro", the Strategy states.
International legal assistance in war crimes proceedings takes place through several mechanisms - ratified international conventions, bilateral and multilateral agreements between Montenegro and other countries.
"The total number of requests for the provision of international legal assistance in war crimes cases, for the period from 2015 to December 31, 2023, was 75 requests (15 sent, 60 received). Requests were received from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Serbia, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Kosovo and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while they were sent to the Republic of Serbia, the Republic of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Kosovo," the Strategy reads.
In that prosecutor's document, which "Vijesti" had access to, it is stated that the State Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro continuously cooperates with the prosecutor's offices in the region.
"This cooperation is realized through regular meetings and exchange of information. In this way, efficiency and coordination in solving complex international cases is improved. As part of these efforts, it is important to note that the representatives of the State Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro, in accordance with the conclusions of the Regional Conference in Sarajevo held on September 18 and 19, 2023, also designated contact persons for communication with prosecutors' offices from the region in war crimes cases. This initiative aims to further strengthen mutual cooperation and facilitate the exchange of information, which will contribute to faster and more efficient processing of these serious crimes," the document states.
Evidence from The Hague is crucial for the extradition of war crimes suspects
On December 6, 2007, the Montenegrin Prosecutor's Office signed the Agreement on Technical Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal in The Hague.
The agreement was signed in order to enable the use of the Hague Tribunal's database in order to facilitate the prosecution's collection of data in war crimes cases.
At the end of January 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Prosecutor's Office of the Mechanism and the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office on cooperation in the prosecution of war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.
"Based on that agreement, the Prosecutor's Office of the Mechanism provides our prosecutor's office with access to the collection of evidence in the possession of the Mechanism and responds to requests for international legal assistance. In addition, there are other types of assistance that the Prosecutor's Office of the Mechanism can provide, including immediate assistance in ongoing cases, legal advice, training in advanced prosecutorial skills, and support for regional judicial cooperation," the Strategy states.
The documentation collected by the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia during its work represents an important source and database for prosecutors who prosecute war crimes.
SDT has access to all databases of that court, as well as the possibility of obtaining information from the protected ICTY database by sending requests for international legal assistance.
"In the perspective of the work of the SDT, the use of evidence from the ICTY is of key importance for bringing war crimes suspects to justice. In this sense, it is necessary to remove all obstacles to obtaining relevant documentation and to strengthen the internal capacities of SDT for searching that documentation".
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