{"id":19761,"date":"2017-11-27T09:49:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T07:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/no-political-will-to-prevent-leakage-of-information\/"},"modified":"2019-08-22T14:30:12","modified_gmt":"2019-08-22T12:30:12","slug":"no-political-will-to-prevent-leakage-of-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/no-political-will-to-prevent-leakage-of-information\/","title":{"rendered":"No political will to prevent leakage of information"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn the end of August 2017, a bombastic announcement that Zoran Marjanovi\u0107<\/strong> would be arrested in a reality programme appeared on the front page of the Informer<\/em>. The Informer<\/em> quoted the editor of TV Happy<\/em>, Milomir Mari\u0107<\/strong>, who, as reported by some other media as well, had announced this in the morning programme of his TV station. The arrest of Marjanovi\u0107 was thus announced two weeks before it really took place, after he had become a part in a 24-hour reality show programme Zadruga<\/em> (Cooperative) broadcast on TV Pink<\/em>.
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\n\tZoran Marjanovi\u0107 was husband of Jelena Marjanovi\u0107<\/strong>, singer, who was killed in April 2016 in the Belgrade settlement of Bor\u010da; the police have not been able to identify the perpetrator yet. The case, which meanwhile developed into a mystery, kept occupying front pages of Serbian tabloids for months, brutally violating privacy and destinies of families Marjanovi\u0107<\/strong> and Krsmanovi\u0107<\/strong> (Jelena\u2019s maiden name).
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\n\tIt is difficult to tell which of the published details from the Marjanovi\u0107 case were discovered in the course of the investigation and which are figments of tabloid imagination, but the announcement of Zoran\u2019s arrest is a telling example of what has become a regular phenomenon in Serbian society \u2013 leakage of information.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t

\n\t\tInformation from the investigation of the murder case of Jelena Marjanovi\u0107<\/strong> was permanently published on front pages of tabloid newspapers<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThis term implies all cases when data from institutions \u2013 even classified \u2013 ends up in public, mostly through media. This is the manner in which Serbian public has for years been learning about details from indictments which are not yet published, or court proceedings held behind closed doors. This happens almost on everyday basis, regardless of whether it is about divorce lawsuits or cases of high corruption and organized crime.
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\n\tNenad Stefanovi\u0107<\/strong>, deputy public prosecutor with the Third basic prosecutor\u2019s office says that it happens that information first goes to media, after which the police inform prosecutors about the case.
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\n\t\u201cLast night, for instance, I was on duty, and then this morning I read in the papers that there was a fire in New Belgrade and that one person got killed in it. No one contacted us\u201d, says Stefanovi\u0107 in an interview for CINS in the end of August.
\n\t
\n\tAccording to his words, most information from pre-investigative stages leaks from the police, while the minister should not be talking about police actions and arrests at press conferences before the prosecutor assesses the evidence and possibly files charges. The prosecution is reduced to the role of providing service information, that someone is remanded for 48 hours or that an order was issued, without any information on what the police do, says Stefanovi\u0107.
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\n\tSources from Serbian Ministry of the interior (MUP) did not accept to talk on this topic. Journalists of the Center for investigative journalism of Serbia<\/em> (CINS) have not had an interview with law enforcement for more than two years.
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\n\tAn earlier research conducted by CINS indicated that there are frequent cases of top state officials from earlier and current sets of authorities who announce arrests, forecast results of investigations, and give assessments of successful steps in fight against crime and corruption; however, the results mostly do not match the announcements.<\/p>\n

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\n\tThree charges for revealing of official secrets<\/h2>\n

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\n\tIn its Progress report for Serbia for 2016, the European Commission mentions the issue of leakage of information in several places, stating that it takes place often and that, besides jeopardizing ongoing investigations, such practices violate the presumption of innocence as well. The Report also states that it is politicians that comment ongoing investigations and proceedings in public.
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\n\tThus, following the arrest of Zoran Marjanovi\u0107, Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107<\/strong>, President of Serbia spoke about the suspect as if he had committed murder, even though charges had not been filed against him yet. Vu\u010di\u0107 even gave details on what Jelena Marjanovi\u0107 looked after she had been murdered, that is, that her skull had been fractured in several places.<\/p>\n

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\n\tSa\u0161a \u0110or\u0111evi\u0107<\/strong>, researcher with Belgrade Center for security policy <\/em>(BCBP), also points to the example of the Kurir daily<\/em> which covered on its front page the arrest of Veljko Belivuk<\/strong>, one of the leaders of Partizan<\/em> club supporters, en evening before the police informed the public about his arrest. *According to his words, to resolve cases of leakage of information, independence of institutions, primarily the police and prosecution, is of utmost importance, as well as political decision that institutions function in an environment free of impact of political interests.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tLeakage of information or lies?<\/h2>\n\t

\n\t\tChecking whether leakage of information took place in the case of rape and murder of a girl and a woman from a village in the vicinity of Zaje\u010dar, Rodoljub \u0160abi\u0107<\/strong>, Commissioner for information of public importance and personal data protection<\/em> performed examination of MUP, Police administration in Zaje\u010dar, and Higher public prosecutor\u2019s office in Zaje\u010dar. \u0160abi\u0107 then established that the data published in media considerably differs from the data from official documents, and that there was no leakage of information, but that media simply publicized wrong information.
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\n\t\tPredrag Blagojevi\u0107<\/strong> says that he does not have any doubt that certain media outlets make up information, quoting a source from an institution.
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\n\t\t\u201cThis is how stories on thousands of Albanians who buy flats in Ni\u0161, chickens whose flesh glows in the dark, hundreds of students from Vranje and Leskovac doing prostitution in Kosovo, and similar, are born. These stories cannot be possibly proved wrong, they disturb the public, and they frequently mention \u2018sources from the police and prosecution\u2019 as sources\u201d, explains Blagojevi\u0107.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u0110or\u0111evi\u0107 said that as of 5 October 2000 and the toppling of the regime of Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107<\/strong> all political parties were \u201cin love\u201d with the police and services, and were using their capacities to the maximum. He adds that it is necessary to know exactly who has access to information, that in cases of leakage of information criminal proceedings should be launched, and that cases featuring high profile personalities from law enforcement, or the Security information agency<\/em> (BIA) need to be investigated to the end.
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\n\tBranko Lazarevi\u0107<\/strong> was the head of cabinet of the current first deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Ivica Da\u010di\u0107<\/strong> at the time when Da\u010di\u0107 was the minister of the interior. A case against Lazarevi\u0107 is prosecuted before the Special department for organized crime of the Higher court in Belgrade for suspicion that he revealed to Rodoljub Radulovi\u0107 <\/strong>and Radovan \u0160trbac<\/strong> \u2013 collaborators of Darko \u0160ari\u0107<\/strong>, charged with money laundering and international drug trafficking \u2013 data on the proceedings against them. Even though criminal charges were filed back in September 2014, the trial, constantly postponed, has not gone far.
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\n\t\u201cThe case against Branko Lazarevi\u0107 for revealing of an official secret has been endlessly postponed, and the end is not even close. There must be one case, one trigger that will constitute good practice and indicate that leakage or servicing of information is not possible\u201d, explains Sa\u0161a \u0110or\u0111evi\u0107 from BCBP.
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\n\tAccording to the data from the Republic public prosecutor\u2019s office, in the course of 2016 prosecutors\u2019 offices in Serbia received three new charges for revealing of official secrets. In the same period, two charges were dropped, while one was resolved through implementation of the principle of opportunity \u2013 rather than being charged, the subject, for instance, pays a certain amount of money for humanitarian purposes.
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\n\tCINS already wrote that Rodoljub \u0160abi\u0107<\/strong>, Commissioner for information of public importance and personal data protection<\/em>, filed misdemeanor charges against Zlatibor Lon\u010dar<\/strong>, minister of healthcare, because an e-mail had been sent from his cabinet to the psychiatric clinic Dr Laza Lazarevi\u0107<\/em> requesting information on the diagnosis of Aleksandar Kornic<\/strong>, former manager of the Kurir daily<\/em>. Several days later, this data was published in the TV programme \u201cRu\u0161enje Vu\u010di\u0107a \u2013 poslednji \u010din<\/em>\u201d (\u201cToppling of Vu\u010di\u0107 \u2013 the last act\u201d) on TV Pink<\/em> when Dragan J. Vu\u010di\u0107evi\u0107<\/strong>, editor of the Informer<\/em>, produced the medical documents and read the findings. The case against Lon\u010dar has become subject to statute of limitation.
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\n\tCharges were also filed against Slavica \u0110uki\u0107 Dejanovi\u0107<\/strong>, minister without portfolio, who was the manager of Clinic Dr Laza Lazarevi\u0107<\/em> at the time. By the first instance verdict, rather than being fined, as prescribed by law, she was punished by a reprimand while the court justified this stating that \u201cit may be expected that she would refrain from committing violations in future\u201d.
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\n\tOne of the cases of unauthorized revealing of information from court processes was launched by prosecutor Nenad Stefanovi\u0107. A part of the trial of Ljubi\u0161a Buha \u010cume<\/strong>, former leader the Sur\u010din criminal group, where his former wife Ivana <\/strong>and Milan Ljubenovi\u0107<\/strong>, police officer, appeared as witnesses, was closed for public. This means that any revealing of information would constitute a criminal act, and the court warned all the persons in the courtroom to that extent.
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\n\tHowever, on several occasions, several media published not only details from the trial, but also the whole dialogues. This is why the Third basic prosecutor\u2019s office, where prosecutor Nenad Stefanovi\u0107 works, filed criminal charges to the First basic prosecutor\u2019s office in Belgrade.
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\n\tIn its reply to CINS, the First basic prosecutor\u2019s office stated that there were no grounds for launching of criminal proceedings, and that they could establish no reasonable suspicion \u201cthat actions of a person constitutes all important elements of any criminal offence which is prosecuted ex officio.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tJournalists responsible as well<\/h2>\n

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\n\tEven though some piece of information may be \u201csecret\u201d, motives for its revealing may be different.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tCriminal charges against Ministry of the interior and Ministry of defense<\/h2>\n\t

\n\t\tIn the beginning of September this year, Rodoljub \u0160abi\u0107<\/strong>, Commissioner for information of public importance<\/em>, filed criminal charges against unidentified official persons from the Ministry of the interior and Ministry of defense for the criminal offence of unauthorized collection of personal data on the president of the opposition party Nova stranka<\/em> and member of Serbian National Parliament Zoran \u017divkovi\u0107<\/strong>.
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\n\t\tThe reason to file the charges took place several months earlier \u2013 in June 2017. This is when Aleksandar Martinovi\u0107<\/strong>, MP from the ruling Serbian progressive party <\/em>read official military and police documents which were supposed to be classified in the course of a parliamentary debate, quoting the reasons why \u017divkovi\u0107 had not served the compulsory military service, i.e. why he had a permit for a gun.
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\n\t\tHaving initiated examination of the case, the Commissioner was provided a reply from the Ministry of defense, but the Ministry of the Interior did not supply the requested documents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tPredrag Blagojevi\u0107<\/strong>, editor of internet portal Ju\u017ene vesti <\/em>and president of the Association of on-line media <\/em>says that this usually comes down to either political or financial motives. Blagojevi\u0107 says that his media outlet was also once approached by an anonymous source who offered information on police activities for money.
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\n\t\u201cTo demonstrate reliability of his information, he sent us data on fights and accidents on several occasions; thus it would happen that our journalists would arrive at the scene before the police, which is utterly awkward. Having realized that our anonymous \u2018source\u2019 was actually someone within the system, I thanked him for his cooperation\u201d, said Predrag Blagojevi\u0107.
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\n\tDirecting of investigation in the direction desirable for the one who reveals information to media may be a possible motive.
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\n\tNenad Stefanovi\u0107, prosecutor, says that media is shoved semi-information which then becomes the central point giving rise to questions which may not even have to do with the investigation.
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\n\tIn its annual Report for 2016, the European Commission remarked that media owners and editors must pay more attention to observance of professional standards, with support of the Press council.
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\n\tPredrag Blagojevi\u0107 is of similar opinion, adding that legal responsibility lies on law enforcement and prosecution, but that ethical responsibility lies on media and journalists. He believes that journalists must be aware of the position of their sources and their motives, and whether information may be proved, that is, verified, from another source.<\/p>\n

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\n\t
\n\t*Note<\/strong>: The original version of the text read: \u201c…independence on part of institutions, primarily law enforcement and prosecution, is paramount. A part of this responsibility also lies on politicians who need to protect institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The case of the announced arrest of Zoran Marjanovi\u0107 once again opened the debate on the issue of leakage of information from institutions. A solution to this issue may lie in prosecution of those who reveal information, but in greater responsibility on part of media as well<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1123,"featured_media":16160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1492,1573,1577],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investigative-stories","category-political-parties","category-pressures-on-journalists","ciTrackContent"],"acf":[],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/1511773073~~cins44.jpg","author_additional":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}