REACTION OF THE STATE COMMISSION FOR THE PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION TO THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE
On the occasion of the reaction of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) published in the media, and regarding the suspicions stated at a public session of the SCPC, on the procedures taken on the “Trust” case, the SCPC wants to emphasize the following:
The data that was presented at the session, which is mandatorily public, in accordance with Article 22 paragraph 3 of the Law on Prevention of Corruption and Conflict of Interest (LPCCI), is for the most part already known to the public, and the SCPC performed an analysis and chronological connection of this data.
In this case as well, the SCPC acted in accordance with the competence established in Article 17, paragraph 1, (5) of LPCCI, and decided to launch an Initiative for the initiation of a criminal prosecution procedure for the case.
The question arises as to how the PPO assessed the initiative as pointless and unfounded and that the Commission, when analysing the case, did not have numerous evidence or insight into the complete factual situation, when the Initiative has not yet been submitted to the PPO, and the PPO still has no knowledge of the evidence we have gathered during the analysis of this case.
In the spirit of a joint and organized fight against corruption and organized crime, it would be appropriate for the PPO to first see all the facts and arguments at our disposal, because the goal of the SCPC is to contribute to solving this case, and not to compromise the procedure conducted in the PPO.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the institutions is only an expression of goodwill for cooperation, but the competences are clearly defined in the laws.
The SCPC, respecting the provisions of the Memorandum on Understanding between the SCPC and the PPO, informed the Prosecutor’s Office at a regular meeting that it has serious concerns regarding the “Trust” case and that it will launch an Initiative to initiate a criminal prosecution procedure.
The SCPC will continue to act in accordance with its legal competences and cooperate with all competent institutions to fight corruption and organized crime, in the interest of the rule of law.
With respect,
State Commission for Prevention of Corruption
