The National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) on Monday released its first reaction to the Constitutional Court’s recent ruling on investigation of the GEO 13 adoption, arguing the law has been observed in this investigation.
The CCR decided that no minister could be held accountable for his political opinions or for drafting or adopting a regulatory document.
As for the Justice minister’s intention to review the anti-corruption chief prosecutor’s activity, the DNA retorted that ‘the professional assessment of the prosecutors is made only by the Superior Council of Magistracy.’
The DNA argues that the investigation on the ministers who adopted the GEO 13 has eyed charges stipulated in the criminal law described in the denunciation filed to the criminal prosecutors. The anti-corruption body says that “prosecutors have probed into deeds according to the Supreme Court’s constant case law stipulating that the prosecutors have the obligation to conduct an investigation to find the truth, including in the situations when the notification is related to the adoption of some regulatory documents published in the Official Gazette,” according to the DNA press release.
The DNA refers to the precedent verdict by the High Court of Cassation and Justice in 2014 reading that „In case the claimant’s arguments are based on facts originating from notorious facts, any deficiency of the investigation that reduces the capacity to establish the circumstances of the case risks leading to the conclusion that it doesn’t meet the demands of an equitable lawsuit. In this context, the request for expedience and diligence is implicit. Moreover, under the current circumstances when the complaint refers to facts related to a document published in the Official Gazette a higher rigor is expected from the auhtorities in the ongoing investigation.”
„Therefore, observing the legal provisions and the practice of the High Court of Cassation and Justice in the view of establishing the case’ s circumstances, evidence have been managed consisting in witnesses’ testimonies, documents and the prosecutor has the obligation of conducting a crimibnal investigation,” DNA concludes.
At the same time, the General Prosecutor’s Office informed on Monday that investigation on GEO 13 for forgery and abetmnet in crime would go on despite the CCR’s ruling.
“The case is pending before the Criminal Prosecution section within the Prosecutor’s Office upon the Supreme Court (ICCJ), the investigation is under way for charges stipulated by the criminal law, abetment in crime, forgery, destruction of documents, releasing inaccurate information in bad faith to the Parliament and to the Presidency related to the Government or other ministry’s activity, with the purpose of hidding dees ment to injury the state’s interests (….), ” reads the Prosecutor’s Office press release.