So far, the relations between the new Government and the institution of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection are entirely correct. However, there are new pressures in the form of campaigns of entities outside the Government - says, among other things, Rodoljub Sabic, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection in an interview with Danas.
On the occasion of one of the first concrete steps, initiated by Sabic's report on controlling access to the so-called retained communications of citizens, which has resulted in the introduction of a double key in BIA (at least two people involved in the access), Sabic says that this is a "worthy of attention, good move, but only the first step on a long road."
- To establish a correct attitude of public authorities towards constitutional guarantees of citizens' privacy, the implementation of 14 measures that the Ombudsman and I have proposed is actually the minimum. More than that should be done- says our collocutor.
Do you expect the new parliament to adopt some of the laws mentioned in the 14 proposals that you have drawn up together with the Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic in order to legally regulate the access of security agencies to private communications of citizens? For example, you proposed a new law on BIA.
- If it were otherwise, would the Ombudsman and I have presented such proposals? Speaking about the Law on BIA specifically, I think that the people in BIA share our opinion on the necessity to have a new Law. I think that the Law is a priority and that it would be good to pass it as soon as possible. The Law on BIA was challenged before the Constitutional Court years ago, and I think that the Belgrade Center for Human Rights was the initiator. In my opinion, the initiative is based on reasonable grounds. In the foreseeable future the Constitutional Court could decide to put aside a number of provisions of the Law and thus create serious lacunas in connection with the operation of BIA. It would be very useful and responsible to prevent this with the adoption of a better new Law.
Do you have any information about some of the other laws that you have proposed? Have you established any contacts or had any talks in connection with it?
- I do not have any concrete information for now. When the Government rightly emphasized the importance of the adoption of the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers in the presentation of its program I believed that I could help with that by coordinating the project "Protection of Whistleblowers" entrusted to me and financed by the embassies of Great Britain and the Netherlands, which main "deliverable" should have been a proper model of the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers. After the obstruction of the implementation of the project, I am not sure that I will be able to muster the energy to continue coordinating the Project.
The public is currently focused on the Draft Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers, and some non-governmental organizations which declare themselves as "whistleblowers" have lodged complaints about the way you manage the process?
- It is a euphemism to call it "complaints." Actually, it is a campaign that ensued as I neither could nor, indeed, would assign to some people more duties than I have, and to disburse to them higher fees than those planned under the Project. Then followed a smear campaign in which misinformation and falsehoods, pointless and unjustified accusations of "money laundering" etc. were flung at me, culminating in a brazen accusation that I have been, whatever that is supposed to mean, "appropriating" vast amounts of money. While the truth in fact is that, let me reiterate this for you 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 "Protection of Whistleblowers". 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.
Are there some new pressures on the Commissioner which have never existed before?
- If you mean the new Government - no. Moreover, for now I would estimate our relationship as entirely correct. But new pressures are always arising. The activities of certain entities outside the Government, such as the above mentioned smear campaigns undoubtedly present various forms of pressure. Independent institutions have an obligation to resist the pressure just as they are obliged to oppose the pressure from the authorities.
You said that it is most important for Agrobanka affair to be unraveled before the court? Do you think, on the basis of past experience, that the Serbian institutions are strong enough to combat corruption?
- Yes, and I mean that not only in terms of Agrobanka, but in terms of all affairs. They can be unraveled only before the court. The court being the only one to send criminals to jail, confiscate the proceeds of corruption and crime and the like. Therefore, it is important that as many scandals, as soon as possible, have such an epilogue. But of course, the needs for promptness should not compromise the quality of the said actions and have the effect that the some things are forgotten or consciously or unconsciously covered up.
Have you recently received any serious complaints in connection to violations of citizens' rights to privacy? In which field? Are there any changes in the type of complaints in comparison with the previous Government?
- A bit bizarre individual case has highlighted an issue of general importance. The complaint of a girl who, despite excellent results , has not been enrolled in the Criminal Police Academy because she ''has not passed the security check," and that the monitoring conducted by the Commissioner regarding this complaint are a reminder of another serious problem in relation to privacy and protection of personal data. Background checks are of course, in certain cases, even necessary. However, they should, pursuant to the Constitution, be regulated by law. Usually they are not and are carried out on a problematic legal basis and without any foundation. Therefore, in due time, I will submit a formal proposal to the relevant ministers, primarily to the ministers of interior, defense and justice, to fully regulate this field in the only adequate manner - legally.
The most important principle - transparency
- Fighting corruption is a problem that should not be viewed through the prism of proficiency of individual institutions. It is the exam taken by the state, a problem that involves the activities of several institutions, systems. If you do not have an adequate system, and the chronic lack of results in the fight against corruption indicates that it is the case, we have built the system "as we go along". I would like to add that in addition to building effective institutions and recognition of some important principles is important as well. One of these principles, and the most important one in my opinion, is transparency. If we made indisputable the right to know, not only under the law, but in reality, everything about public expenditures of public resources, I am sure that in due course we would have very notable results in the fight against corruption - said Rodoljub Sabic.
