The Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts, with seat is in The Hague, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in Sarajevo with the aim of handing over to Bosnia and Herzegovina all final Hague convictions pronounced in Bosnia and Herzegovina. citizens in order to establish criminal records in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the persons to whom those judgments refer.
The signatories of the Memorandum are the Minister of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Davor Bunoza, and the Secretary of the Hague International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts, Abubakar M. Tambadou.
After signing, both of them stated that the ultimate goal of the document is to achieve reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bunoza hopes, he added, that today’s act means at least a small step towards that goal. He believes that the implementation of the Memorandum, confirmed by the BiH Presidency, will begin very soon. The state and both entity levels in BiH participated in its creation.
The Minister of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not expect problems in the implementation of the Memorandum, although, as he said, anything is possible. The criminal record referred to in the Memorandum will be forwarded to the Ministries of Internal Affairs, all the way to local levels.
The Secretary of the International Residual Mechanism thanked Minister Bunoza for his cooperation, perseverance and determination to sign the Memorandum, with the implementation of which Bosnia and Herzegovina will acquire records of this type.
“Convicted persons will bear the consequences of their crimes for life – accountability does not end with the moment of conviction, said Abubakar M. Tambadou.
His presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the occasion of the signing of the Memorandum testifies to the permanent engagement of the international community with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the further cooperation of BiH with the International Residual Mechanism in The Hague despite the closure of the office in Sarajevo. It testifies to an important chapter in the process of accountability, the secretary concluded, as well as to the readiness of the Mechanism and the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina to work together to achieve the goal.
Tambadou also stated that the Hague verdicts have already been sent to Serbia for criminal records there, while they have not yet been sent to Croatia. The entire process is going step by step, concluded the secretary of the Residual Mechanism, Fena news agency writes.
Photo ©️ Fena
