Final court verdicts are the only remedy for corruption, the head of the national committee for monitoring the implementation of the corruption prevention strategy, Zeljko Jovanovic, said in parliament on Wednesday, presenting a report on the work of the Council from 1 June 2009 to 30 June 2010.
Jovanovic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) stressed that only final court rulings and confiscation of illegally gained property could lead to a reduction of corruption at all levels, as well as to the negative public perception of the prevalence of corruption in the Croatian society.
He stressed that corruption perception was not the same as the corruption prevalence, adding that it could be indicative that perception has been on the rise constantly for 15 years.
Jovanovic presented figures according to which in 1995 only 15 percent of respondents believed that state officials were corrupted. In 2004 this number went up to 23 per cent, while the latest survey carried out by the Zagreb Law School in 2010 shows that 46 per cent of people believe that state officials are corrupted.
Jovanovic stressed the Council is confident that progress has been made in the implementation of the anti-corruption strategy, notably owing to a high-quality legal and institutional framework. He added, however, the efficient implementation of all regulations which guarantee independent and professional work of the judiciary and police was necessary.
He called for a continuing revision of the action plan for fighting corruption, as suspicions of political pressure on police, the state prosecutor's office and the judiciary in cases involving senior state officials are reducing citizens' trust in the judicial system.
According to the report, Croatia must make record of important results in the implementation of efficient investigations, criminal prosecutions and judicial decisions in all organised crime and corruption cases.
It is also necessary to step up financial investigations and inter-agency cooperation.
