Head of the Criminal Division at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Judge Minka Kreho, and witness support officer at the Witness Support Section of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms. Jelena Krezić, took part in their capacity as lecturers at a two-day seminar held in Belgrade on the topic of “Prosecution of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in War Crimes Cases.” The seminar was held in the framework of the project titled “Support to Monitoring of National War Crimes Trials (Phase II)“ implemented by the Organization for European Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Serbia, in partnership with Serbia’s Judicial Academy.

The lecturers, Judge Minka Kreho and witness support officer Jelena Krezić, shared with the participants some of their experiences from the Court’s rich case law regarding their work with victims of sexual violence in war crimes cases, citing examples of granting the status of particularly vulnerable witness, protected witness, of procedural application of special protection measures, management of witness examination by parties to judicial proceedings, and method of judges’ examination of witnesses – victims of sexual violence, as well as the psycho-social aspect of work with such witnesses. Also discussed were differences and similarities of the legal framework in the criminal legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

The participants said they were grateful for the experience and knowledge the judge and the witness support officer from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina had shared with them through direct and open communication.