The U.S. Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is pleased to announce a series of joint training sessions for BiH-based prosecutors and police, sponsored by the Embassy’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) and International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP). The two day training sessions, which took place in Sarajevo January 27-28 and in Teslic January 30-31 are bringing together prosecutors and police representatives to focus on improving cooperation in the fight against public corruption.
Mr. Sead Lisak, Head of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption opened the training in Sarajevo on January 27. Chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy Nicholas Hill and Republika Srpska Minister of Interior Radislav Jovicic opened the training session in Teslic January 30. Hill told participants in Teslic ““This training is about working together and building good relationships, because neither prosecutors nor police can fight corruption on their own. Minister Jovicic’s presence demonstrates his support for the common goal shared by the United States and law enforcements professionals throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina – of fighting corruption at all levels of society and government.”
Instructors with experience in financial crime investigation and prosecuting corruption cases presented lectures on the difficulties and sensitivities associated with investigating and prosecuting corruption and led a scenario-based exercise to work through the problems that typically occur in a public corruption investigations and prosecution. Instructors included a representative from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, the Romanian National Anti-Corruption Directorate, ICITAP’s financial crimes specialist, and Embassy Sarajevo’s Resident Legal Advisor.
The two sessions this week are the first of several planned OPDAT/ICITAP training programs which will focus on investigation and prosecution of cases regarding public corruption, organized crime, narcotics, trafficking in persons, and terrorism.
Over the past ten years the United States, through Department of State-funded International Narcotics and Law Enforcement programs like OPDAT and ICITAP, has provided training and equipment donations to BiH law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and courts valued at over 54 million dollars.
US EMBASSY SARAJEVO
