site.btaSofia Hosts 24th Congress of International Association of Forensic Sciences

Bulgaria is hosting the 24th Congress of the International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS), which opened in Sofia on Tuesday. The forum, held at the National Palace of Culture, began with a performance by Valya Balkanska and the National Guards Unit and will continue until May 30.

IAFS President Yanko Kolev welcomed participants to the global gathering in Sofia.

"Our motto this year is simple, almost disarmingly simple: 'Working Together'. This is not a slogan for a poster. It is a decision," Kolev said.

He noted that the work of forensic experts is being tested daily by violence and organized crime, cyberattacks and disinformation, disasters and conflicts, and by societies demanding truth, transparency and justice.

"No laboratory, no department and no country can carry this burden alone," said Kolev, who teaches at the Medical University in Pleven and heads the forensic medicine department at Tota Venkova Hospital.

Among those attending the opening ceremony were Supreme Court President Galina Zakharova and Tota Venkova Hospital Executive Director Minko Mihov.

The congress also saw the presentation of this year's IAFS awards, including the Sofia Award, presented for the first time. Bulgarian pilot Mario Bakalov was among the keynote speakers, addressing parallels between aviation, forensic medicine and criminalistics.

According to the organizers, the congress is being held in Central and Eastern Europe for the first time in its history. The event is regarded as the leading global forum in forensic sciences, covering fields including forensic medicine, criminalistics, cybersecurity, digital sciences, DNA analysis, toxicology, forensic anthropology, medical law and disaster victim identification, among others.

More than 2,000 participants are expected to attend, with around 1,700 scientific presentations and some 50 practical workshops. Experts from organizations including INTERPOL, UNESCO, UNODC, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Criminal Court are also taking part, the organizers said.