6th hello from Belgrade

Dear family and friends,

My moment to go back home is very close now. For security and private reasons I won't publish the exact day this time. I would like to come home in peace, take some rest during the fairy days and enjoy some private moments with my beloved ones and family before I show up among friends and relatives.

I hope everyone will understand that I deserve this quiet and peaceful moment after a long period of hard working and isolation.

I discover a completely new world and was able to extend my experience very fast. I hope to continue this voyage of discovery to realize what I have in mind for my future career.

A lot of opportunities occurs on international level and the final aim is to end in The Hague, a couple of hundred kilometers from my home town.

Anyway, our ministry of foreign affairs extended last week my contract for another 8 months what assures me to remain till next summer. As I was informed, they would even be willing to pay me till the end of 2007.

Time flies as we use to say, its already 6 months that I survived in this post-conflict country.

On professional level everything runs smoothly. I have an agreement with the Leadership Academy for Policing of Bramshill in United Kingdom to bring in some experts to deliver our colleagues from internal affairs from Serbia a number of workshops on conducting investigations on anti-corruption issues in the police. Besides I've got the agreement from the Minister of Interior to join their commission for prevention of torture in carrying out their assessment on police custody area. The aim of this project is to enhance the quality by submitting some project proposals on refurbishing and to implement a custody form that should enhance accountability by protecting both, detainees and custody officers.

In the mean time I had also a meeting with the Head of Internal affairs in Podgorica (Montenegro) were we agreed to bring in an independent and international expert to carry out an assessment of their oversight body. The final aim of this project is to enhance the capacity of their office by providing them office space, IT and office equipment and to ensure that the ministry is willing to enlarge their staff to a reasonable number of inspectors. Currently, there are only 4 inspectors, their Head of office included to ensure oversight over a police force which has more than 5000 police officers.

As you see, a lot of work to be done and in the same time a lot of reasons to know that we bring something in life that helps people. For a long time I dreamt of this kind of work and am very happy that final my dream comes true.

I will close this short report with some wishes of prosperity and health for all of you, your families and beloved ones. Have a wonderful Christmas and take a great start in 2006.

See you soon,
Martin

Enkele foto's ter illustratie van ons "zijn"

Ons transportmiddel in Serbia



Ons nestje in Belgrado, Plitvicka 58.

Flat op de eerste verdieping.










Vranac tijdens de eerste week van November. Een hele verandering bij het kleine ding rechts toen hij pas 4 weken oud was.

"The Sky is the Limit"

"One day you will also have your own
history in Belgrade, with countless memories
of all those things that happened in it
and were left behind.

Today seems to be a colorless and dreary
day but we still see its future as bright,
once it has become a memory."

M.Trojanovic

Ter verduidelijking: "de foto verwijst enkel naar "The Sky" en is genomen in Valmorel (Franse Alpen) feb 2005. Aan de reacties te zien denken velen dat het hier in Belgrado zo uitgesproken bergachtig is en dat de winter volop is ingezet. Verkeerd dus, maar alvast goed geprobeerd.

How accountable is Serbia and Montenegro

Wanneer je enkel de prentjes bekijkt zal je vlug beseffen dat er geen uitleg bij hoeft. Deze illustratie is een perfecte weergave van de werkelijkheid. (Just click on the picture to enlarge size)