Twenty representatives of the Serbian penitentiary system took part in a 1-day intensive training on radicalisation and violent extremism, right-wing extremism and specific tools and programme for violent extremist prisoners (VEPs), which took place on 25 March 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia.
The trainees raised their awareness on different forms of violent extremism, its symbols and dynamics of changes and the latest global trends and challenges of prevention and combatting of radicalisation and violent extremism in the penitentiary systems across Europe. In addition, representatives of the Ministry of Interior presented the latest developments when it comes to misuse of the cyber space for online recruiting of the persons vulnerable to radicalisation and the latest trends in Serbia in this field. The trainees were also acquainted with the VEP-specific tools and treatment programme developed and piloted in Serbia, including the obligation of the prison managers to set the precondition for rehabilitation and work with this category of prisoners.
This activity was implemented in partnership with Ministry of Justice of Serbia with the support of the Ministry of Interior, one local and one international consultant, under the auspices of the Beneficiary-specific component for Serbia under the regional action “Enhancing penitentiary capacities in addressing radicalisation in prisons in Western Balkans Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.