The Hague, 28 June 2019
Following a decision by the Municipal Court in Prague and the Minister of Justice of the Czech Republic, a contract killer of Serbian and Hungarian nationality, suspected of committing three murders, in Amsterdam, Budapest and Belgrade, will be surrendered from the Czech Republic to Hungary.
Eurojust, the EU’s Judicial Cooperation Unit, actively supported the investigations between the Hungarian, Dutch and Serbian judicial authorities into this multiple murder case. During coordination meetings organised by Eurojust, information on the potential jurisdictions for prosecution were discussed to solve the issue of the conflicting European Arrest Warrants (EAWs) and the International Arrest Warrant issued by the national authorities to surrender or extradite and prosecute the suspect by their competent national judicial authorities.
Eurojust helped with transmitting the national authorities’ European Investigation Orders (EIOs) and an EAW towards the Czech Municipal Court, as well as with facilitating the execution of the Hungarian EAW. Eurojust facilitated the cooperation between the national authorities by advising on a possible transfer of proceedings and by providing its expert guidance to avoid potential conflicts of jurisdiction. Cooperation between the National Desks ensured round-the-clock translation and transmission of arrest warrants and investigation orders.
Cooperation between the Dutch and Hungarian Desks at Eurojust was instrumental in coordinating between national authorities, which led to the Dutch case being transferred to Hungary.
The suspect will be transferred to a Hungarian prison from surrender custody in Prague, upon decision of the Czech Municipal Court and Minister of Justice. The suspect was arrested in Prague on 1 March as a result of the smooth and effective cooperation between the Czech Republic and Hungary.
