Roundtable on the handling of organized crime cases involving the use of encrypted communication tools
A roundtable discussion on the handling of high-level organized crime cases involving the criminal use of encrypted data is being held in Sarajevo. With the support of the EU4Justice project, 30 prosecutors, investigators and experts associates from the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office of Sarajevo Canton participated in this roundtable and shared their experiences on analyzing and using encrypted data with prosecutors from Belgium, Jan Kerkhofs and Catherine Van De Heyning, experts in the field of fighting organized crime.
Džermin Pašić, Prosecutor and Head of the Sector for Fight Against Organized Crime, spoke about challenges in investigating and prosecuting caseswith encrypted datain Bosnia and Herzegovina and the importance of international cooperation in solving these cases, emphasizing the following: “I work with my associates on the most challenging cases, both in the segment of illicit international trafficking in drugs, as well as money laundering, and this peer-to-peer exchange was of utmost value.”
Between 2021 and 2023, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has so far conducted about 25 operations in cases with evidence from encrypted data, involving more than 150 suspects. Eight indictments were filed and confirmed with a total of 66 accused persons, with more than 10 defendants pleading guilty, and final verdicts were rendered.
Mika Aalto, component leader within the EU4Justice project assisting the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, underlined: “There is no doubt that prosecutors of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH are developing expertise for working on cases related to encrypted communication. This roundtable enabled us to further connect top experts who have exchanged their experiences, but also gained new knowledge that will contribute to solving high-level organized crime cases using encrypted communication tools.”
Roundtable is organized as part of the EU4Justice Project – Phase II, “Support to Judicial Professionalism and the Fight against Organized Crime and Corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” which is implemented through the financial support of the European Union with the aim of harmonizing the judicial system of BiH with European standards through strengthening the independence, effectiveness, responsibility, and efficiency of the judicial sector in BiH.
