Identification of the body of an Iranian woman in Bosnia and Herzegovina through international judicial cooperation

According to the Communications and Information Office of the International Affairs Department of Iran’s Judiciary and the High Council for Human Rights, the body of an Iranian woman was identified in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the help of international judicial cooperation.

The report states that after the family of the Iranian woman approached domestic judicial authorities to express concern over their daughter’s fate, follow-up efforts to determine her situation began.

The woman had intended to leave the country illegally and was last known to have sent a voice message from the Serbian border. Her companions later reported that she had fallen into a river and had likely died in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Following receipt of this information—and in light of a notification from the Bosnian Embassy regarding the discovery of several bodies in the same area—DNA testing was deemed necessary for definitive identification.

Iranian judicial authorities informed the General Department of International Legal and Judicial Cooperation of the Judiciary’s International Affairs Department through an official letter.

Pursuant to the existing judicial cooperation agreement between the two countries, a formal request was prepared by the aforementioned department and, via Iran’s embassy in Bosnia, submitted to Bosnian judicial authorities to conduct DNA testing on the discovered bodies.

The judicial authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina acted on the request in accordance with the agreement, and the forensic medicine authority of Republika Srpska (an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina) stated in a letter that the remains of an unidentified woman had been transferred there in October 2024 for autopsy.

Ultimately, examinations and matching of the results confirmed that the body found on the banks of the Sava River belonged to the same individual for whom identification had been requested by the General Department of International Legal and Judicial Cooperation. Thus, the case was concluded through the joint judicial efforts of the two countries.

This case serves as an example of the practical application of judicial mutual assistance agreements in resolving cross-border cases, with the International Affairs Department of the Judiciary playing a central role in guiding and managing the cooperation.