Serbian Interior Minister announces fight against corruption in police

Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic has expressed dissatisfaction with the situation in the Interior Ministry and announced an effective combat against corruption in the Serbian police force, the Serbian newswire Tanjug reported July 6.

“There is corruption in the police and link to criminal circles are also present here, just as in every other segment of society,” Stefanovic stated as cited by the newswire. “There is, however, a strong will now to reduce that to an absolute minimum. [Our actions against corruption in the police] will not end with six traffic policemen being arrested for bribery, which happened recently. I will not sweep such irregularities under the rug, like it used to be done.”

The interior minister also added that he had asked for documentation of all ongoing cases connected with corruption and bribery in police force in order to review them and avoid any surprises when some cases will be made public. Stefanovic also added that the fight against corruption and bribery in the Serbian police is not a matter of the police force only.

“Not everything is in the hands of the police,” said Stefanovic, as cited by Tanjug. “A prosecutorial investigation is in the hands of the prosecutor’s office and we can act on their orders in a great many number of cases.”

When asked whether he was satisfied with the situation in the Ministry of Interior that former Police Minister Ivica Dacic had left behind, Stefanovic stated that the situation was not perfect and pointed that it was also bad when Dacic had taken over the ministry before him.

“Nevertheless, I think he [Ivica Dacic] has not done enough to change the situation in the ministry fo better,” Stefanovic said, as cited by the newswire.