The Council of Europe, in close cooperation with the three Ministries of Justice in BiH and their respective partners from entity and state penitentiaries, organized the final meeting of the Working Group on reviewing and finalising the tools and programme for rehabilitation of violent and extreme prisoners (VEPs).

The participants got acquainted with the activities carried out within the project and the results of the piloting of the tools in few prisons in BiH. Based on the presented analysis, the participants mapped the institutional activities necessary for further improvement of the application of the VEP tools and programme and identified specific areas that would enhance VEPs rehabilitation. It was concluded that the piloting phase has reinforced the acquired knowledge and skills among prison staff, which will enable their sustainable application in practice, and will further facilitate effective coping with the serious challenges of radicalisation in the prison environment.

The meeting was attended by the Assistant Ministers of Justice of the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions, the manager of the State Prison, directors of penitentiaries Zenica, Bijeljina and Tuzla, as well as members of multidisciplinary prison teams who continuously participated in the piloting program of specific tools and programmes for rehabilitation of violent and extremist prisoners.

The meeting was held on 14 October, 2021 in Jahorina, organized within the project "Support to the penitentiary system towards sustainable rehabilitation of violent extremist prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina", funded by the Council of Europe Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2018–2021.