Representatives from the Serbian Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior and prison staff, were unanimous at the 4th session of the Working Group in recognising the importance of proper identification and rehabilitation of VEPs and radicalised prisoners. Supported by an intentional Council of Europe consultant, they accepted the methodology for individualised treatment of VEPs, followed by fruitful discussion on challenges expected and necessary preconditions for piloting the programme in practice.
Participants acknowledged the need for further training on proper application of the above instruments and foster prison staff capacities to define and better structure concrete rehabilitation measures for VEPs. Motivational interviewing, building of a trustful professional relationship with VEPs and ways dynamic security can directly impact their rehabilitation progress, were highlighted among the training needs. As direct response to these needs, under the auspices of the project specific component for Serbia, Train-of-Trainers programme for prison staff in Serbia will be implemented in early 2021.
The activity was implemented on 24 November 2020 as a hybrid event, within the scope of the Regional action “Enhancing penitentiary capacities in addressing radicalisation in prisons in the Western Balkans” co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe within the “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” and implemented by the Council of Europe.