Serbia: ICITAP-Sponsored Anti-Corruption Workshop Conducted in Šabac

On April 19, ICITAP, together with the Serbian University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies (UCIPS) and the Ministry of Interior (MOI), conducted a three-day workshop on the topic of corruption suppression within Serbian state agencies. The purpose of this workshop was to promote inter-agency cooperation in Serbia regarding corruption prevention and suppression, which is in line with EU accession requirements. In addition to UCIPS and the MOI, the participants of this project included representatives from the judiciary, the Tax Administration, the Anti-Corruption Agency, the Anti-Money Laundering Administration, and the Customs Administration. The focus of this third workshop was to continue the discussion of issues officers face in detecting and investigating corruption crimes which are the most difficult crimes to prove.  Experts from different fields discussed this topic from the point of view of their respective profession, outlining challenges they face in their work and offering ideas on how their cooperation can be improved in order to produce better results. The group actively worked on integrating their findings into one comprehensive document. The final outcome of these activities will result in the drafting and printing of the manual for combating corruption within police and other state agencies, to be used by all government officials involved in the process of corruption detection and evidence collection, thus ensuring successful prosecutions and more convictions. In Serbia, ICITAP works with the support of and in coordination the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.