Significance and lessons from revealed corruption within traffic police
Transparency Serbia (official chapter of Transparency International), on the occasion of arresting large group of traffic policemen from Čačak due to doubts into bribe accepting, emphasizes that case indicates to how curbing of petty corruption in Serbia is possible when there is willingness to do so. Data on almost half of employees involved into accepting of bribe, is confirmed by the results from this year’s Global Corruption Barometer of Transparency International, survey about experiences with corruption, http://www.transparentnost.org.rs/index.php/sr/istraivanja-o-korupciji/globalni-barometar-korupcije-gcb, according to which 31% of drivers in Serbia, that had contact with traffic police, paid bribe in the past twelve months, which places our country among the first in the region, alongside B&H and Albania.
Minister of Interior „invited everyone that have any knowledge of abuses inside the police to report it to Internal Control Sector“. What, by our estimation is missing in an invitation like this, are clear information provided to interested citizens (e. g. at easy to notice spot on the website of MI) on how to report corruption and to assure them that they won't suffer damaging effects, that is, what they can expect to occur after reporting, on the basis of examples from practice. Related to that we emphasize that Law on Protection of Whistleblowers introduced some useful rules for reporting corruption and other illegal acts, but it didn't release of criminal accountability willing and unwilling bribe givers that report such case. Such amendments to the Criminal Code, unfortunately, were not adopted so far, even though that regulation was amended this year as well, and anti-corruption plans from 2013 envisaged audit of criminal acts of corruption. Finding of the mentioned research (Global Corruption Barometer of Transparency International) according to which main reason for not reporting of corruption in Serbia is still fear of consequences shows that such changes are necessary.
Having in mind that in previous years there were no public information on problems and conflicts between various police services in Čačak, and that there is no reason to assume that this type of corruption is a phenomenon that occurs only in that part of Serbia, Internal Control Sector of MI will most properly remove any doubt into potential selective proceeding if similar measures are undertaken in other cities as well. Finally, related to statements that suspected traffic policemen damaged the budget of Serbia with illegal remission of penalties for 1,5 million of RSD, we emphasize that this perspective, although significant for determining of criminal act, is essentially of the least importance. Penalties for traffic violations have no purpose to load neither state budget nor pockets of corrupted policemen, but to increase safety of traffic. That is why traffic control should be established to best serve this purpose, and when it comes to damaging effects, loss of life and health should be emphasized, that could have been prevented if some of the drivers and vehicles were timely removed from the traffic.
Transparency Serbia
Belgrade, 28 December 2016
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