Serbia and Bosnia to exchange liaison officers

BELGRADE - Serbian Prosecutor for War Crimes Vladimir Vukcevic and Bosnia-Herzegovina's Chief Prosecutor Goran Salihovic agreed in Sarajevo on Thursday to exchange liaison officers who would be appointed to the other prosecutor's office as representatives of their institutions.

This will speed up cooperation between the ttwo offices concerning actual cases both when it comes to technical issues and deadlines, according to a joint statement from the two offices.

The agreement is based on the Protocol on Provision of Information and Evidence.

The meeting on Thursday was used to discuss joint activities, which , the statement says, will be satisfactory to the families of victims.

Vukcevic spoke positively of the activities by Bosnia-Herzegovina's Prosecutor's Office in the past two weeks, which included 8 large operations resulting in the arrest of more than 75 people, 20 of whom are suspects in war crimes cases.

It was the most active period for the Bosnian office since its inception, which is a clear indicator that an efficient battle against all forms of crime and establishment of the rule of law in the region are possible, Vukcevic pointed out.

Salihovic and Vukcevic met last week with Chief Prosecutor of the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals Hassan Jallow and agreed to work with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Residual Mechanism, the statement says.

Photo Tanjug, N. Milosevic (archive)