BIRN presented analyses on terrorism, corruption, and crime

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH) began monitoring cases in the fields of terrorism, corruption, and organized crime before the Court of BiH in early 2016. During the first half of 2016, analyses of prosecuted cases and challenges faced by the judiciary at the state level were compiled, and the results of the analyses were presented at a press conference held today, reports the Patria News Agency. 

BIRN BiH's research on terrorism shows that the BiH Prosecutor's Office and Court have prosecuted over 20 cases related to terrorism in BiH, and that a large number of these cases relate to individuals going to foreign battlefields and joining terrorist organizations.

Problems in these cases concern the cooperation of investigative agencies, data exchange, and the deradicalization process after serving sentences.

Regarding corruption, BIRN BiH's analysis shows that the State Prosecutor's Office focused on fewer corruption cases, given that the majority of verdicts in this area are either acquittals, suspended sentences, or sentences of up to one year in prison, which can be commuted to fines.

Finally, the state judiciary has resolved a larger number of cases, over 230, in the area of organized crime. A significant problem in these cases arose with the confiscation of assets illegally acquired through these criminal acts.

BIRN BiH's analysis shows that prosecutors in organized crime cases sometimes do not seek asset forfeiture because it takes too much time in the evidentiary proceedings. The analysis also points to the inability of the Court of BiH to ensure collection, as well as situations where convicted persons compensate prison sentences of up to one year with money but remain indebted to return illegally acquired assets.

At the press conference, BIRN BiH also presented the new portal detektor.ba, where texts, analyses, research, and interviews, as well as audio and video materials on the prosecution of war crimes, transitional justice, judicial monitoring, terrorism, corruption, and organized crime will be published in the future.

The portal detektor.ba also contains a unique archive comprising over 25,000 articles, 1,553 radio shows, 78 episodes of "TV Justice," numerous specials, interviews, and reports produced during years of monitoring war crimes trials and journalistic work in the field of transitional justice, writes detektor.ba.