Press release on the occasion of September 28th 2009 – International Right to Know Day

 

 

 

Transparency – Serbia , on the occasion of International Right to Know Day, reminds that right to access the information in possession of state organs, is not only significant human right but most efficient tool for corruption prevention.

 

We consider there is very few areas where Serbia has progressed as much as in this one. Five years ago when we conducted campaign for adoption of Law on Free Access to Information, systematization of working positions were well kept internal documents, contracts that state organs closed were available only in exceptional situations, salaries in public enterprises were hidden, citizens hesitated to ask for information on things that are not directly related to satisfying of their interests and journalists worked only on the basis of politicians' statements or documents received from insiders.

 

Today many reliable information that were previously only assumed, can now be found at internet presentations of authority organs or in Directories on work or could be received for free by request. Right to free access to information is constitutional and legal category, and evaluation of our country's progress towards EU integrations depends from respecting of that right. Undoubtedly merits for recent success of this project deserve agile Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and his short stuffed service.

 

However, Transparency Serbia wishes to indicate not only that going towards improvement was difficult, but that many threats occur today. Those that are in power persistently don't eliminate those threats. For example, even five years wasn't enough for the Government of Serbia, at least in one case, to secure executing of Commissioner's decisions, when institution that is obligated by the Law doesn't do so. Because of that citizens were often denied for important data on spending of budget assets. Almost two years were not necessary enough for the Parliament to put on the agenda prepositions for amending the Law on Free Access to Information and Law on Classification of Information that were supported by more than 70.000 citizens. Commissioner's service is still under stuff for performing of its duties. Finally, numerous warnings by domestic and foreign expert public were not sufficient for the Government to restrain from proposing regulations that objectively limit right of public to know and Commissioner's authorizations. Finally, but not the least by importance, we emphasize that Serbia still doesn't have legal mechanism of protection of servants that publish information of public importance, although its introducing is obligation on the basis of ratified Civil Law Convention on Corruption and recommendations of Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO)

 

Having in mind all stated, we invite citizens to actively use their right to free access to information and to control the work of authority organs in future, and the Parliament to use their supervisory authorization over Government to secure promoting of this important segment of fight against corruption in future.

 

Transparency – Serbia

 

Belgrade , September 28th 2009.