There is no state protection system for corruption whistle-blowers in Serbia.Belgrade - Whistle-blowers, people who report cases of corruption, do not enjoy protection in Serbia, and are often penalized, dismissed from their jobs and bullied for reporting cases of grave misconduct at their places of work.
Since it was launched a year ago, more than 800 complaints from all regions in the country have been submitted to the www.pistaljka.rs web portal which allows citizens to report corruption while protecting their identity.
Marijana Milosavljevic, a journalist working for the website, says for “Danas” that citizens’ complaints are mostly related to corruption in the health and education sectors.
- In smaller towns, nepotism is rife and people are being employed based on their “connections”. It is not rare to find almost all members of a politician’s family being employed at a school or medical facility, and about 50% of all complaints relate to this sector. Corruption in courts and the police are also reported, followed by local public officials, who, having no fear of penalties, dare to be outrageously arrogant in small and impoverished communities. The same applies to managers of public corporations, Ms. Milosavljevic says. Goran Milosevic from Smederevo, the employee of “Putevi Srbije” who discovered and reported the so-called “Tollgate Mafia”, told “Danas” that he has regretted countless times that he exposed the theft of millions at toll gates. Milosevic, who was working at a toll gate at the time, reported wrongdoings in the public corporation “Putevi Srbije” to the police, and even included a video of his colleagues stealing from the company, and therefore from the state itself. However, instead of being rewarded for his good deed, he was “put through hell”.
- At that time, I was employed on a temporary basis, and after reporting corruption, I was dismissed, on the grounds that my employment was no longer required. I am, however, convinced that this happened because I pointed out at the National Assembly forum that crimes were being committed, and requested help from relevant authorities, Milosevic explains.
Rodoljub Sabic, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection in the interview for our newspapers says that there is no state protection system for corruption whistle-blowers in Serbia.
- If we expect from whistleblowers, like many other countries, to make a contribution in the fight against corruption, we must essentially change the way we treat them. Results of studies conducted in a large number of countries revealed data that over 40 per cent of corruption cases are exposed by whistleblowers. Inadequate approach to whistleblowers in our country directly affecting the results in the fight against corruption, says Sabic.
According to his words, there are numerous instances of people exposing corruption only to face unpleasant and even brutal retaliations.
- In such instances, the willingness to be a whistle-blower depends on the determination of a brave individual, and it is necessary for corruption to be exposed by “regular” and not exceptionally brave persons. People cannot be expected to do this if it routinely results in unpleasant incidents, mobbing, proceedings to establish “responsibility”, dismissals, threatening with financial ruin, Sabic says. He adds that many states have laws on protection of whistleblowers for a long time, and gives the United States as an example that has gone the furthest in this regard, by giving whistleblowers a percentage of the amount of reported embezzlement.
Cedomir Cupic, Chairman of the Board of Anti-Corruption Agency, in the interview for our newspaper says that in order to provide state protection system for "whistleblowers", a law must be enacted stipulating that every citizen who report corruption enjoy adequate protection. According to his words, Article 56 of the Law on the Anti-Corruption Agency states that whistleblowers are civil servants or employees in authorities of the Republic of Serbia, autonomous provinces, local self-governments units and bodies of public enterprises established by the state.
- However, there are many cases of corruption in enterprises that are not stated-owned, therefore this provision of the law should be expanded, points Cupic.
