May7-8, 2015
Ambassador Uyehara speaks at the opening of the Conference on Fighting Cross-Border Crime in Plav
At the meeting with the Mayor of Plav Orhan Sahmanovic
The U.S. Embassy in Podgorica, in cooperation with the Judicial Training Center (JTC), and the United States Embassy in Pristina, Kosovo, hosted a “Conference on Combating Cross-Border Crime between Montenegro and Kosovo” in Plav, on May 7-8. U.S. Ambassador Margaret Uyehara, President of Supreme Court Vesna Medenica, President of High Court in Bijelo Polje Tofil Zujovic, and the Chief High State Prosecutor in Bijelo Polje Rifat Hadrovic spoke at the opening of the conference on May 7.
The aim of the conference was to facilitate and encourage cooperation between institutions of Montenegro and Kosovo in preventing and suppressing crime that affects both countries. Participants at the conference will be judges, prosecutors, police and border police officers, and representatives of Ministries of Justice from both Montenegro and Kosovo. They have had an opportunity to gain additional knowledge on how to best submit requests for international legal assistance to one another, while representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice guided them on how to submit such requests to the United States.
“Criminals know no ethnicity, no religion, no borders, when it comes to committing a crime and escaping justice. Working cooperatively across borders is the only way to fight transnational crime. It is also a crucial component of the rule of law reforms necessary for Euro-Atlantic integration,” said Ambassador Uyehara at the opening.
While in Plav, ambassador Uyahara also met with Plav Mayor Orhan Sahmanovic, visited local high-school and talked to a group of mid-career Plav professionals.
