On the meeting of the Prosecutors General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states
Today in the capital of Kazakhstan, we held the 20th-anniversary meeting of the Prosecutors General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (hereinafter – SCO) member states.
The Prosecutors General of the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan participated in the meeting, and the Prosecutor General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of China, the Solicitor General of India, and the Additional Attorney General of Pakistan joined the meeting online.
Opening the meeting, the Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan – Berik Asylov, acknowledged the organisation’s role, which has steadily become a high-profile expert platform to discuss measures focused on combating transnational crime in the region.
Gizat Nurdauletov, the Assistant to the President and the Secretary of the Security Council, delivered a welcoming speech on behalf of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
In his speech, Zhang Ming, the Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, emphasised the importance of cooperation between supervisory authorities to protect human rights and respond to modern challenges and threats.
It is worth reminding that the central topic of the meeting was the experience exchange and discussion of best practices and issues in recovering illegal assets.
It has been highlighted that transnational economic crime is a global threat that encroaches on security and undermines the financial sector’s stability, transparency, and efficiency.
According to international experts, the annual difference in the trade turnover of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states with other countries is about 675 billion US dollars.
It is possible that some of these cash flows are redirected for criminal purposes, including financing terrorism and extremism.
Given this background, the Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan shared his experience in the repatriation of criminal capital.
Specifically, he informed his colleagues about the activities of the Interdepartmental Commission chaired by him to combat the illegal concentration of economic resources established by the Decree of the President of Kazakhstan.
As Berik Asylov highlighted, criminal activities annually cause irreversible damage to the economies of our countries. Only through close cooperation and joint work can the countries create an undefeatable barrier to such challenges.
Shri Tushа́r Mehtа́ spoke about the measures adopted in India to combat transnational economic crimes.
Zhang Jun – the Prosecutor General of China, informed the participants of the meeting about the mechanisms and instruments used in the People’s Republic of China to recover assets acquired by illegal means and transferred abroad.
Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov also shared the Russian experience in this sphere.
Prosecutor General of Tajikistan Yusuf Rahmon presented the measures to prevent the illegal transfer of funds and other valuables acquired by illegal means and transferred abroad.
Kurmankul Zulushev, Prosecutor General of the Kyrgyz Republic, and Nigmatilla Yuldashev, Prosecutor General of the Republic of Uzbekistan, talked about the work of interdepartmental commissions for the search and recovery of assets illegally transferred abroad.
As part of the discussion, the delegates reached a unanimous opinion regarding the necessity to build partnerships between law enforcement agencies of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states and join efforts to improve communication for efficient work to combat transnational economic crimes.
As a follow-up to the event, the heads of the Prosecutor General’s Offices signed a meeting protocol that specifies priority tasks for further cooperation and exchange of best practices on the stolen asset recovery.
Following signing the protocol, Berik Asylov held bilateral meetings with foreign colleagues on the further development of international cooperation.
Press service of the General Prosecutor’s Office