With the end of March, the deadline for asset declaration at the Anti-Corruption Agency has also concluded, for officials working in public institutions.
During the legal deadline, over 9,800 officials declared their assets, while 140 public officials have still not done so.
“We have already started procedures to initiate the imposition of fines. Within today, we will send requests to verify their basic salary amounts so that fines can be issued as quickly as possible, because the automatic fine for missing the deadline is 30% of their salary. All of them have an additional 15-day deadline to fulfill this obligation. During this period, there are no other punitive measures; however, if they delay more than 15 days, they become subject to criminal charges in the prosecution,” said Yll Buleshkaj – Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency.
The Minister of Justice, Donika Gërvalla, stated that she has also completed the asset declaration form. Gërvalla faced accusations in court for failing to declare assets but said she held no resentment toward the Agency that filed criminal charges against her in the prosecution.
“As Minister of Justice, I have visited many mechanisms that deal with fighting corruption and reforms in the field of justice… It has been completed. Why should I criticize the director for doing his job? I need criticism to be directed elsewhere for misuse of duty in relation to my indictment, but if this agency is doing its job, I have only good words, not criticism,” said Donika Gërvalla – Minister of Justice.
Meanwhile, the GLPS stated that stricter punitive measures should be imposed on officials who fail to declare their assets.
“The issue of non-declaration or false declaration of assets is a criminal offense for all officials who do not declare or falsely declare their assets, and according to the Criminal Code, this offense can be punished with 3 to 5 years of imprisonment. From monitoring the justice system, we have seen that for these criminal offenses, there have generally been low sentences imposed by the justice system,” emphasized Liridon Salihu – Researcher at GLPS.
Based on the Law on Declaration, Origin, and Control of Assets and Gifts, the president, members of parliament, ministers, deputy ministers, judges, prosecutors, and many other categories are required to declare their assets. Recently, this process has also been extended to include doctors, university professors in public institutions, and customs officers.
