News in English     | 21.02.2018. 13:55 |

Combating corruption requires committed engagement of relevant BiH institutions

FENA Hana Imamović

SARAJEVO, February 21 (FENA) - Abuse of power is the most frequent accusation in corruption cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is why as much as 43 percent of corruption cases monitored by the OSCE Mission to BiH relate exactly to the abuse of power.

This was highlighted during today's presentation of a report entitled “Monitoring of Corruption Cases Processing in BiH”, which was drafted as part of the OSCE anti-corruption action in BiH, and which states that 65 corruption cases they monitored have been completed.

Of the 157 cases monitored at the BiH courts, 16 are categorized as high-level corruption cases, 54 as medium-level corruption cases and 87 as cases of petty or administrative corruption.

The OSCE Mission and other independent monitors in the last three years have recorded an increase in the number of high-level corruption cases launched in BiH, and this positive trend, the report said, is the result of a large number of indictments issued by the BiH Prosecutor's Office and Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo and Bihać.

In 2016, prosecutor’s offices in BiH filed 194 indictments for corruption offenses. Seven were raised at the level of BiH, 121 in the FBiH, 52 in Republika Srpska and 14 in the Brčko District, and courts in the entire country brought 184 judgments in corruption cases.

The OSCE Secretary General, Thomas Greminger, who is on a visit to BiH, expressed hope that the recommendations contained in the report would improve the prosecution of cases in the field of corruption.

One of the recommendations is the alignment of laws, including criminal law. Additional education of judges and prosecutors is also necessary, but Mr. Greminger notes that the fight against corruption requires a long and committed engagement of all relevant institutions.

He stressed that corruption was one of the biggest problems of modern societies and that it weakens the economy, undermines democracy and the rule of law, but also distorts the public's trust in the institutions of government, and he believes that the efforts made in resolving this issue do not produce the desired results.

“The elimination of the culture of impunity for perpetrators of corruption implies a decisive response from the criminal justice system,” Mr. Greminger said, adding that the recommendations in the report were based on monitoring 67 completed corruption cases from 2010 to 2017.

United States Ambassador to BiH Maureen Cormack called corruption a cancer that is consuming BiH society as a whole, and therefore considers it is time to take action in that regard, adding that this report contains clear guidelines for resolving this issue.

The Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Bruce Berton, announced that the final monitoring report on more than 150 corruption cases would be released early next year, but that today's released report provides a comprehensive and impartial analysis of the state of the corruption cases.

The report, Mr. Berton says, calls for the protection of judges and prosecutors as well as all holders of judicial functions against political influence, and most of the recommendations made will refer to the jurisdiction of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC).

Head of the Delegation of the European Union and EU Special Representative to BiH Lars-Gunnar Wigemark welcomed the preparation of a report that assesses the needs for improving the efficiency of the judiciary.

At the same time, the EU is working on an analysis of needs and measures to strengthen the judiciary in the fight against corruption, but this means that the judiciary must not be corrupt because corrupt judiciary cannot combat corruption.

He believes that mechanisms and resources are necessary for the successful fight against corruption, and in BiH, there is a need for a greater number of criminal cases being conducted before courts and prosecuted before the courts, but the biggest problem is systemic in nature and that is an inappropriate penal policy.

As concluded, with monitoring the work of the judicial sector, the analysis of indictments and judgments, this project should identify the underlying causes that represent an obstacle to the fair and efficient processing of corruption at the legislative and institutional level.

(FENA)
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