The Fund and Transparency International (TI) presented an assessment report in Sarajevo today on Bosnia’s compliance with international standards in anti-corruption.
Govedarica said that the authorities have little ideas how to combat corruption.
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The report states that few corruption cases have been prosecuted in BiH because of political pressures on judiciary. Furthermore, there is no single and efficient system for seizure of criminal property and BiH has not made progress in prosecuting money laundering cases.
The Center for Investigative Reporting in Sarajevo (CIN) wrote last year how proceeds of crime act was not implemented. Even after the convictions, criminals manage to keep illicit assets, while the state is losing at least 4.5 million KM a year due to deficient laws.
Also, the report detects loopholes in public procurement laws that allow wide room for corruption; the Freedom of Access to Information is not fully implemented and the country still had no legislation protecting whistleblowers.
All of these issues are conditions for fulfilling Bosnia’s obligations in combating corruption, which is also the part of BiH accession process.
The representatives of the two non-governmental organizations said that their recommendations for amending the Law on Financing of Political Parties and the Law on Conflict of Interests were turned down. They went on to say that those who convened at today’s discussion at the BiH Parliament’s House of Representatives will not bring transparency in the coming presidential campaigns.
Emir Đikić, chairman of the TI’s Board, said that the Law on Conflict of Interest was becoming a law on the interests and that there would be no way of prosecuting people who have abused public office for private gain.
He warned of the damaging effects of new provisions that allow for increasing the limits on private financing of political parties.
It pays off for political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to accept illicit donations and earn in other illegal ways because some of them made as much as 50 times more than what they paid in fines for their offenses, found the Center for Investigative Reporting in Sarajevo (CIN) in a story it published last year.
