News On Wild Construction in Serbia

Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office In Belgrade in Action

The First Primary Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade has been given a mandatory order for the next steps to be taken in cases of criminal charges for building without a building permit.

The Department for Supervision of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade looked at the work of the basic public prosecutor’s offices, including cases of construction without a building permit, and made suggestions. On December 21, 2022, the Senior Public Prosecutor in Belgrade sent a mandatory instruction to the First Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade for what to do next.

The instruction said that all deputies should act in cases for all criminal offenses to speed up the process. Only one or two deputies shouldn’t be in charge of the criminal offense of building without a building permit, because that leaves them open to pressures and other influences.

It was also suggested that if the basic prosecutor’s offices think that money laundering is behind a crime, they should send criminal reports to the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, which has the authority to take action.

So, I want to bring to the public’s attention the claims that the Senior Public Prosecutor in Belgrade, on December 21 of last year, sent all basic prosecutor’s offices in Belgrade an order saying that every criminal report in the field of “wild construction” and legislation that gets to the basic prosecutor’s offices must be sent to the higher prosecutor’s office.

In the way described above, it is wrong and malicious to say that the prosecutor “can control who files reports against whom.” Instead, the meaning of the recommendations is the exact opposite: the competent prosecution decides if there are signs of a more serious crime, and any possible influence on “specialized” prosecutors for criminal offenses is removed. building without having a permit to do so.

PS. The Special Department for Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade is in charge of the crime of money laundering. This is why the basic prosecutor’s offices are asked to contact him if they think money from illegal activities is being laundered through “wild construction.”

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