The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, Mr. Rodoljub Sabic, said the announcement issued yesterday by the NGO "Medics against Corruption" – which contained a number of allegations concerning him, including that he misappropriated money within the framework of the project "Whistleblower Protection" – was not only a complete and utter falsehood, but also an act of deliberate character assassination.
On this issue, Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic said:
"Under penalty of perjury, fraud or any other form of liability, I solemnly declare that neither the Commissioner personally nor any of the staff of his Office took a single penny within the framework of the project "Whistleblower Protection". Indeed, the project was deliberately designed to prevent this. Such treatment of this and other similar projects is standard practice in the Commissioner's work.
Ever since project implementation began, I was faced with requests from a group of people assembled around the website "Pistaljka" ("Whistle") to entrust them with project duties beyond their initially agreed scope of work and to disburse to them fees higher than those originally planned under the project.
As I neither could nor, indeed, would do so under any circumstances, I was faced with a situation in which further implementation of the project was in jeopardy, because the "Whistle" informed me they no longer wished to take part in the project, even though they had previously committed to it. Then followed a smear campaign in which misinformation and falsehoods, pointless and unjustified accusations of "money laundering" etc. were flung at me. Yesterday, this smear campaign culminated with the accusation that I allegedly "misappropriated" – whatever that was supposed to mean – vast amounts of money.
During my professional career as an attorney-at-law, politician and public office holder, I have had the dubious honour to meet – and at times confront – various people, including the most hardened of criminals. And yet, I cannot recall ever coming across anyone so willing to blatantly and deliberately spread lies and tread on the reputation of other persons and institutions.
When the dust finally settles, I am not sure I will be able to muster up the energy to continue coordinating the project "Whistleblower Protection", but of one thing I am sure: I will definitely try to find the time to teach the self-proclaimed "whistleblowers" and "fighters against corruption" that, even in a country where proper legal arrangements are not always in place, such as Serbia, those who unscrupulously spread lies must and will be held to account before the law."
