Corruption is collapsing and hindering the comprehensive progress of the state, said Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović.
He said this at the National Anti-Corruption Conference organized by the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS).
Novović assessed that MANS continuously works and contributes to the fight against corruption, as well as that the work of this NGO represents an important segment in the creation of a broader social consensus.
"The fight against corruption is a legal and moral imperative. Confiscation of property acquired through crime occupies a central place in modern criminal law," said Novović.
He said that justice cannot be complete if illegally acquired property is not confiscated.
"SDT works dedicatedly to improve results in these areas and we manage to record significant results. "Discovering and confiscating illegally acquired property remains one of the key priorities of SDT," said Novović.
"Political decision-makers should think about the French model and the formation of a special institution that should take care of this seized property, given that it is now under the jurisdiction of the State Property Administration. In this sense, specialization would be significant and to think about the formation of such an institution", said Novović.
Božović: To show a clear will and readiness
Minister of Justice Bojan Božović said that everyone must join together in order to create a legislative framework together on a partnership basis and implement everything we need.
"The law on confiscation of property acquired through criminal activity has been announced on several occasions that it will be amended and that the decades-long injustice will be at least partly corrected. We have not yet succeeded in that intention, the changes that were adopted through the IBAR law were only one part of the recommendations that were adopted", said Božović.
According to him, the Ministry of Justice has formed a working team that will deal with changes and additions.
"We will hold more discussions, panels, in order to consider different options and proposals, in order to reach the best solution," he said.
He added that in that department they had three round tables regarding the Law on Prevention of Corruption, and that they received numerous suggestions, which they want to apply to that law as well.
"We have to consult with those who know more about it than we who write about it, first of all the question is how much practical experience and knowledge we have in this regard. That's why we need suggestions from the SDT, the courts, the civil sector and other institutions," said Božović at the conference.
"If we want to close Chapters 23 and 24 by the end of 2026, which is foreseen in the road map, the second final criterion refers to the concretization of the confiscation of property benefits obtained from crime. That is another criterion, without fulfilling the obligations from that criterion, we will not be able to finish this process", said the Minister of Justice.
Božović said that it is important to show a clear will and readiness.
"We must target this property through the Tax Administration and other institutions that will be able to characterize certain deficiencies in the acquisition of property as a clear signal in which direction the competent institutions should move," said Božović.
Milovac: Veting has no alternative
Deputy Executive Director and Director of the Research Center of the NGO MANS Dejan Milovac said that when it comes to the case of Svetozar Marović, everyone can agree that justice has been served.
"Whether justice has been served is questionable," Milovac said.
"No one mentions the 3,8 million dollars that were in the account of Svetozar Marović's wife anymore, it would be naive to believe that this is the only account and that the money has disappeared," he said.
He said that organized criminal groups are still capable of creating an environment that can be a continuation of the environment that existed until 2020.
"We can never be fully assured that the cases initiated by the SDT will have an adequate epilogue in court. I am afraid that if the SDT does not have more support from the executive power, that effort will be in vain and that we will have a repetition of the Šarić cases, etc.. Everything we have achieved so far is thanks to the partial reform of the prosecution, but it will be in vain if it is not support of the executive authorities", said Milovac.
He said that after 2020, every minister of justice talked about vetting.
"After the case of the former president of the Supreme Court, which is an excellent reason for vetting, where you have a case of the very top of the Supreme Court, which is suspected to have been spread to other parts of the judiciary - we miss that chance and leave it to the public to assess how far the tentacles of these organized criminal groups go. Milovac said.
He assessed that there is no alternative to vetting in the judiciary, police and judiciary.
"I don't know if the system can be paralyzed more than it is, we have 23 postponements of hearings in the case of Vesna Medenica", Milovac said.
He said that he would reaffirm the idea of forming a special court whose judges would deal with the most serious crimes of organized crime and corruption.
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