In light of the tendentious and unsupported statements made by certain members of the Anti-Corruption Council, the Ministry of Justice would like to reiterate that on 1 March 2018, four regional anti-corruption centres were created with the establishment of special anti-corruption units within the High Court and the High Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Kraljevo, respectively. These units exclusively handle cases with elements of corruption. In these past two years, 1,528 persons have been indicted and 1,162 convicted, as a direct result of the application of the new Organisation and Competencies of Government Authorities in Suppressing Organised Crime, Terrorism and Corruption Act. Prison sentences have been pronounced against a total of 260 persons. A sentence of imprisonment of 147 years has been pronounced against 168 out of the total number of convicted persons.
The Ministry of Justice would like to stress that, as of last year, Serbia’s performance in the field of anti-corruption was no longer ‘globally unsatisfactory’. This affirms Serbia’s efforts and notable progress in this field, compared to other countries, such as Luxembourg, Turkey, and the Czech Republic, which remain at the level of ‘globally unsatisfactory’ performance.
Another sign of Serbia’s commitment to tackling corruption was the enactment of the Origin of Property Act at the end of 2019. The essence of this statute lies in the method of cross-verification of property through a special taxation procedure conducted by the Tax Administration.
The application of the new Corruption Prevention Act is expected to begin in September 2020. This statute was adopted last year and is meant to replace the existing Anti-Corruption Agency Act. The new statute follows the GRECO recommendations, and serves as an umbrella anti-corruption regulation which reinforces the role and increases the capacity of the Anti-Corruption Agency.
Similarly, the adoption of the Lobbying Act was another one of GRECO’s recommendation. This statute has been in application since last year. As a statute which, for the first time, regulated lobbying in Serbia, it represents one of the anti-corruption mechanisms which ought to reduce the ‘grey’ area of illicit influence.
The Ministry of Justice invites all citizens and the community of experts to report any indication of corruption to the competent authorities, and all those making unsupported and malicious statements to stop confusing the public and degrading the work of competent authorities.