ZAGREB, June 4, 2020 – Condemning the wind park scandal Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday said that his cabinet was fully committed to the fight against corruption and called on the judicial institutions to ascertain what happened and who was responsible for breaking through surveillance measures.
“On behalf of the entire government, I want to say that the government is entirely committed to the fight against corruption, while proof of the independent work of the police and state prosecutor’s office can, in fact, be seen in the process that unfolded last week, at least when it comes to the public. There is no dilemma that we wish to support the fight against corruption and encourage the relevant bodies to do their job in accordance with the law and without anyone meddling in their work,” Plenkovic said at the start of a cabinet meeting.
As some of the actors in this scandal were office-holders appointed by this government – a state secretary and some other officials and an assistant minister, that is proof that the State Prosecutor’s Office (DORH) and police are doing their job without any influence, the premier said.
“We consider that conduct to be unacceptable and that is why we dismissed the said officials and took measures that are very clear and have moved this entire episode away from collective responsibility from all of us in government. We in no way want to be implicated in someone’s individual acts that harm the government’s reputation,” he said.
Plenkovic underscored that it is in the interest of strengthening trust in judicial institutions to determine those responsible for surveillance measures being cracked in the wind farm scandal.
“Seeing that measures were allegedly cracked among those stakeholders involved and they may have included the police and DORH, I think that it is in the interest of strengthening trust in judicial institutions to determine how that is possible and who is responsible for surveillance measures being cracked and that all these procedures have an epilogue within a reasonable time,” he added.
“I say this very precisely without any idea of possibly pressuring any of these bodies but it is also just as important to determine who is responsible because that is important for trust in DORH’s activities, the police, and the court functioning. That is what I expect from all stakeholders in reference to legal security,” underscored Plenkovic.
