Regional conference on judicial cooperation launched

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The EU Global Facility on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (EU GF-AML/CFT) on Tuesday kicked off a regional conference on judicial cooperation in the MENA region, in collaboration with the Siracusa International Institute for criminal justice and human rights.

Held under the title ‘Strengthening Judicial Cooperation in the MENA Region: Judges and Prosecutors at the Forefront of the Fight against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing’, the three-day event is witnessing the participation of 70 representatives from 18 countries of the MENA region.

“We are delighted to be here today with such great attendance. It is with pleasure that we see the level of dedication to judicial cooperation, a topic at the heart of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing,” said EU Global Facility Team Leader David Hotte in his welcoming remarks.

“It is particularly impressive to witness participants from so many countries committed to the deepening of collaborative measures to ensure the due recovery of proceeds from organised crime and terrorist activities,” he added, thanking the Kingdom of Bahrain and all representatives for their attendance. 

For his part, Jean-François Thony, President of the Siracusa Institute, highlighted the importance of the event, stating: ‘‘this conference is one-of its kind. Indeed, seeing judges and prosecutors from so many countries gathered in one room to cooperate on AML/CFT is unique, especially in this region. Too often we forget the importance of judges and prosecutors in the AML/CFT process but not today.”

“International collaboration of this level is of particular importance for the Siracusa Institute, which is at the forefront of the fight against organised crime in the Mediterranean and has made the improvement of criminal justice systems one of its core missions.”