[ Corruption and organised crime ]

"Crime and corruption here are occurrences against which there is no organized fight, and in all Balkan states these terms are a model by which everything functions", writes Aleksandar Sekulic in one of the most powerful articles I read on corruption these last months. To read the original version, published in Nezavisne novine (Banja Luka), click here, and see below for the English translation (provided by the Bosnia Daily, 29.12.2005).

Kriminal i vlast/Crime and power by Aleksandar Sekulic in Nezavisne novine (Banja Luka), 26.12.2005

Coupling of crime and power is a
term which is being dragged in
public for years and becomes a
trite phrase, but these words describe the
governmental structure in a unique way,
or, better to say, state in which people
live here for almost two decades.
Crime and corruption here are occurrences
against which there is no organized
fight, and in all Balkan states these
terms are a model by which everything
functions.

Lately, the problem of criminal structures
represents the way how to introduce
the money gained by crime into
legal flows of economy, institutions,
state… as smoothly as possible and with
maximum "security". If the crime and
the money gained by crime cannot be
legalized, bosses and their political mentors
will do their best to at least make the
"grace period" of several years possible.
And in the years that come, everyone
will find the way to cope, one way or the
other - as long as they have the money.
The described situations can be found in
all fields of economy, in public enterprises
and services, education system, state
institutions. There isn’t a thing that cannot
be done, the only question is how
much it costs. The only important thing
is to reach the goal.

Thus, the culprits of one of the biggest
scandals in custom service in Republika
Srpska were surprised when newspapers
published that there is an investigation
being led against them - responsible of
smuggling frozen meat, invoiced as vegetables
- two years after charges were
filed. They instantly decided to threaten
journalists who dared to remind the public
about frauds with which the RS budget
was damaged for over one million
convertible marks. If they do not stop
reminding of crime and demand an
action from competent organs, journalists
could, they are warned, "stay without
something"! It was not stated precisely
which parts of the body are in question,
probably to intensify the fear.
That is why it is very clear why the
District Prosecution in Banja Luka did
not process the cases from this scandal
even after two years and why it still
"investigates" it.

In such situation, it is possible for a tirerepairman
to become the owner of an
institution of great significance and to
urbanize, regulate, tear down and build
by his will earning millions and it is
questionable to whom he pays and how
much. According to everything, state
does not have much benefit.
It is also possible to be a manager in a
public enterprise for years with a suspicious
diploma of a high-school and a
forged diploma of an engineer.

Unfortunately, there are numerous examples
while the tries of breaking organized
crime, corruption, forging and other
crimes can be counted on fingers on one
hand. Breaking the coupling of crime
and power is the first, but decisive step in
fight against organization which tries to
come out from the underground.