BUCHAREST, March 24th – The SECI Regional Center for Combating Trans-border Crime signed a Letter of Intent with Southeast European Prosecutors Advisory Group, at the 11th Meeting of SEEPAG, held last week in Istanbul, Turkey.
“It is important in any police investigation to work closely with the prosecutors. As a regional organization, the SECI Center intends to improve the effectiveness of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of the trans-border crime in South Eastern Europe in accordance with other internationally accepted standards. The SECI Center and SEEPAG are both fighting organized crime in the region and this letter is a first step towards an institutionalized coordination of efforts.”, Mitja Močnik, director of the SECI Center declared.
At the Istanbul meeting, a new chairman of SEEPAG was elected. Arqilea Koca, prosecutor within Albanian General Prosecutor’s Office replaced judge Behçet Tufan Turan.
SEEPAG’s main aim is to reinforce the fight against the serious forms of crime in South Eastern Europe by providing operational support and assistance to each other and to relevant law enforcement agencies in trans-border criminal investigations and prosecutions, and by providing advice, assistance, and guidance on criminal policy and legal issues related to law enforcement matters in the region.
The SECI Regional Center for Combating Transborder Crime, headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, was launched in 2000, and is a unique operational organization in which police and customs liaison officers from 12 member states (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey) work together in direct cooperation, coordinate joint investigations and facilitate information exchange.
Besides the member countries, there are 21 observers, countries and organizations: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, EUBAM, France, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Ukraine, UNDP Romania, the United Kingdom, UNMIK, and the United States of America.
Italy and the United States maintain permanent representation at the SECI Center, and Interpol and the World Customs Organization are permanent (non-resident) advisors to the SECI Center.
