Brammertz announces referral of more material to Bosnia

After his meeting with the State Prosecution authorities, Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, announced that the new investigation material will be transferred to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the following period.

Brammertz is on a two-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of preparation of a report on cooperation by countries in the region with the Hague Tribunal, to be presented to the UN Security Council at the end of this month.

Brammertz said that, during his meeting with the State Prosecution, the participants discussed future cooperation, which had been “going both ways” till now.

“We have been talking about additional material referring to cases and investigations, which will be transferred by my Office to this Prosecution in the upcoming months,” Brammertz said, adding that the Hague Prosecution had provided assistance to local prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 90 different cases over the past 18 months.

At this meeting the cases that have already been transferred from The Hague to local authorities for further processing, as well as those that have already been assessed by the Tribunal, were also discussed.

“Our relations and cooperation with The Hague have never been better, both concerning the already transferred cases and those that still have to be assessed,” said David Schwendiman, Chief of the War Crimes Section with the State Prosecution.

Milorad Barasin, Acting Chief Prosecutor of the State Prosecution, said that there were many obstacles facing war-crimes trials, but with the help provided by The Hague and efforts made by local prosecutors, more and more war-crimes cases are expected to be tried.

During the meeting with Brammertz, the parties also discussed regional cooperation among prosecutors involved in war-crimes cases, from all countries in the region. It was announced that all prosecutors would be invited to attend a joint meeting in the upcoming period.

“Agreements have been reached on some things, but some problems still remain, such as the transfer of cases and the exchange of materials, as well as failure by countries to extradite their citizens to other countries. Those issues need to be resolved,” Brammertz said.

Ahead of his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brammertz visited Croatia. He will visit Serbia next week.

During his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Chief prosecutor has restated that the arrest of the two remaining fugitives – Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic – “remains the top priority for the Hague Tribunal”.

“The states in this region must cooperate with the Hague Tribunal in order to bring fugitives, like Mladic and Hadzic, to justice. This isof crucial importance to victims. At the same time it will enable theTribunal to successfully fulfill its mandate. Besides that, this is a matter of credibility of the international community and justice,”Brammertz said.

In addition to the State Prosecution, Brammertz held meetings with the State Presidency, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice. He plans to meet representatives of Republika Srpska and victims tomorrow.