Witness protection

Political turmoil and reactions have erupted after “Proto Thema” revealed that protected witnesses in the Novartis case shared €56 million. Given the witnesses’ personal gain, as disclosed by the article, it is now necessary to lift their protected status and remove their anonymity. The critical question remains: who prompted them to make the allegations that fueled the Novartis conspiracy?

Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci's defence lawyer Gregory Kehoe told the Kosovo Specialist Chambers at a status conference in the trial on Tuesday "there is no tribunal that has put measures" in place for witness protection like the ones being imposed at his client's trial in The Hague.

The weakness of Kosovo’s witness protection system means that some war crimes perpetrators are not being sanctioned and victims are being denied justice, the Council of Europe’s rights commissioner warned.

The Serbian justice ministry has finalised its first war crimes strategy, expected to be adopted in the first half of 2016, promising to punish perpetrators while improving witness protection and transparency.

Protected witnesses whose testimonies were crucial for war-crimes and organised crime cases were put at risk for six months because of the failure to set up a commission to ensure their security.

NGO reacts to "belated dismissal" of police official

BELGRADE -- Head of the Interior Interior (MUP) Protection Unit for Participants in Criminal Proceedings Miloš Perovid was dismissed from this position on June 6.