Poor justice systems in Balkan states heightens threaten from IS returnees
Countries in the Balkans are afraid as they prepare to receive their citizens who had joined terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq.
Making the case for these countries worse is the poor
nature of their justice systems and also the lack of transparency in them.
Nevertheless, potential failure in dealing with former
members of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria will pose threats to the
security of these countries.
These returnees will likely be reintegrated into their
own societies. Nonetheless, the lack of proper mechanisms to closely monitor
their conduct and moves will be a major threat to security.
Reports from several Balkan states show that a limited
number of those who had returned from the battlefields in Syria and Iraq were
brought to trial.
Judicial challenges
Kosovo and Serbia held the largest number of trials
for IS returnees, according to the news site, Balkan Insight.
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia also tried a
large number of people indicted in internal terrorist offences, the site said.
The problem, however, is that a small number of the
returnees were indicted in the trials held in these countries.
In the period between 2007 and 2020, Bosnia and
Herzegovina tried 28 people only, Macedonia 18 people, Albania nine people and
Serbia 16 people.
Most of the trials gave these people suspended
sentences.
Prisons
Those sentenced to prison need to be closely watched
so that they cannot spread their ideology inside the prisons. Nevertheless,
most of the Balkan states do not have proper systems in this regard.
This is why European states are afraid that the lack
of these systems would increase the terrorist threat in them.
