The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection has forwarded a letter today to the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Mirko Cvetković, in which he pointed out the problems related to the right of the public to have access to information on restitution of taken away property. While reminding that he had already pointed out several times the numerous problems related to access to information on restitution and that those who are demanding such information, get it only upon intervention of the Commissioner, thus for example, the Property Restitution Network of Serbia submitted over one hundred complaints to the Commissioner in the past period. Commissioner Rodoljub Šabić also said the following:

’’The direct cause of my today’s reaction is also a new complaint of the Property Restitution Network of Serbia – the Association of Citizens for Restitution of Property Taken away and their request to be able to get the wordings of the draft law, analyses or other acts prepared by the work group of the Ministry of Finance, formed on November 17, 2009.

The only document that the Ministry of Finance made available to them, was a copy of the decision of the Minister of Finance on the establishment of the work group with the informaton that ’’the chairman and a number of members have stopped performing activities’’ with an supplemental ’’statement of grounds’’ that the Ministry of Finance is not in possession of any other documents. Such ’’statement of grounds’’ is to say the least, very concerning. Because if true, it leads to the conclusion that the work group had not produced even one document in more than one and a half year. Yet, if not true, it leads to the conclusion that the public is deprived, in full awareness and contrary to the law, of the information it is entitled to.

Of course, the government has an indisputable right within its constitutional authorizations to select, determine and propose the restitutional model to the National Parliament, which it believes to be the best. However, there is no reason, nor justification for the public to be deprived of the possible options and factual material based on which the government makes its decisions. Particularly when it has been announced that the law is to be adopted in the coming couple of months, and this to be  preceded by public discussion.

I take this opportunity to repeat again that all issues related to denationalization are a legitimate subject of public interest. And this includes not only citizens who are interested in the return of the property, which was once taken away from their families, but also all citizens of Serbia, because the part of the burden that they will also beardepends, directly or indirectly,  on the manner, kind and scope of restitution. Finally, the issue of restitution is a legitimate subject of interest of the broadest public also considering the fact that it has been stressed by the EU as an issue of essential  impact on the process of European integration of Serbia.’’