OSCE trains law enforcement officers from Azerbaijan and Georgia to investigate crimes facilitated by Darknet and virtual currencies

TBILISI, 25 November 2016 – A five-day regional training course for 16 law enforcement representatives from Azerbaijan and Georgia focusing on investigation of serious crimes facilitated by the use of Darknet, a part of the Internet configured to hide the communication inside it, and by use of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, concluded today in Tbilisi, Georgia.

This training course placed emphasis on filling the gap in the knowledge of investigators of serious crimes such as drugs, firearms and human trafficking facilitated by criminal use of Darknet and/or virtual currencies. It was organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Departments/Strategic Police Matters Unit with the support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and its Academy.

“The development of international training programmes is one of the major priorities of the Academy,” stated Givi Mikanadze, rector of the Police Academy. He emphasized the importance of building up the capacity of law enforcement officers in dealing with these new challenging phenomena and expressed readiness to continue supporting the OSCE in the organization of such regional training courses in the future.

The practical course used training material developed by an international team of experts representing law enforcement agencies of Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands under the European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) project. The project is supported by the European Cybercrime Training and Education Group (ECTEG). The course was delivered by the lead developer from the Belgian Federal Police, with the support of an expert from the OSCE.