Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković and Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović participated in the Regional Prosecutors' Conference on Cooperation in Prosecution of War Crimes held on Brioni, Croatia, which brought together prosecutors and representatives of judicial institutions from the region, as well as international organizations, with the aim of strengthening cooperation and more efficient prosecution of these cases.
Special Prosecutor Tanja Čolan Deretić was also on Brioni, presenting institutional solutions and experiences of the Special State Prosecutor's Office in working with victims and witnesses in war crimes cases, and speaking about the legality and admissibility of evidence collected in other countries.
The Supreme State Prosecutor, as stated in the statement of the State Prosecutor's Office, emphasized that the State Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro has made significant progress in the area of war crimes prosecution, especially through improved cooperation with the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IMCR), as well as bilateral cooperation with prosecutors' offices in the region.
"In the previous period, bilateral agreements were signed relating to support for victims and witnesses in criminal proceedings, and concrete steps were taken towards improving the existing Agreement on Cooperation and Prosecution of Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide, which was concluded with the State Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Croatia in 2006," Marković pointed out.
The Special State Prosecutor's Office emphasized that, despite challenges, such as the passage of time and the limited resources of the Special State Prosecutor's Office, concrete results in the prosecution of war crimes have been achieved through direct communication between prosecutors' offices in the region.
"Montenegro's progress in this area has also been recognized by the European Commission, which noted that the state is building a credible and sustainable record in processing complex war crimes cases," added Marković.
Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović spoke about the challenges in proceedings when defendants are unavailable to the judicial authorities of Montenegro.
"We have a successful track record in war crimes cases that have been transferred to Montenegro. When it comes to transferring criminal prosecution, I believe that it would be most efficient to transfer such cases after the investigation is completed or an indictment is filed," said Novović.
He added that he believes that the continuation of successful regional and international cooperation between prosecutors' offices will contribute to achieving even better results in prosecuting perpetrators of war crimes.
The conference was organized by the State Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Croatia and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the support of the European Commission and other international partners.
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