REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- ASEAN member countries agreed to establish a network for witness and victim protection through Kuta Bali Declaration in a meeting on Wednesday in Bali. Chairman of Witness and Victim Protection Agency, Abdul Haris Semendawai hopes that this network can provide information to ASEAN countries regarding the protection of witnesses and victims, as well as to promote joint research and training for personnel agency in Southeast Asian countries.

"This network aims to enhance cooperation between ASEAN countries and related parties to protect witnesses and victims of crime, particularly from transnational organized crime," Semendawai said recently.

Seven ASEAN member countries have sent its delegates to the meeting, namely Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, while Malaysia, Brunei, and Vietnam are absent from these activities. But, the three countries have agreed because they also came to this meeting last year.

This network has been prepared since 2012 and discussed in three meetings. The first meeting in 2012, ASEAN countries signed a joint statement on strengthening the regional cooperation on witness and victim protection. In this third meeting, ASEAN finally agreed to form the network.

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