Whistleblowers with a witness status

Justice collaborators and penitents who report officials for corruption crimes will automatically receive the witness protection status, according to a recent modification of the Anti-Mafia law.

In an exclusive interview for Top Channel, the Minister of Justice explained also other changes proposed in the criminal legislation for fighting corruption.

“We will create a task force that means investigating the corruption crimes, as provided by 12 articles in the Criminal Code, and that will now be investigated by the Prosecution of Serious Crimes and tried by the Court of Serious Crimes. Certainly that these 12 criems are part of the Criminal Code. We will add them to this law, and they will be treated by the Prosecution of Serious Crimes. The law is there and we made no changes, but this law foresees the seizing of criminal assets. We think that corruption belongs to this level and that’s why we want to fight it with these means”, Naco declared.

Are these changes the same for all levels of officials, from Ministers, Parliament Members and common employees?

“The competency for Parliament Members, Ministers and even higher belongs to the Supreme Court and the Prosecution General. We have thought to create the National Bureau of Investigations, which will take the investigation of high public administration investigations, certainly even with the inspection of lower levels, and the coordination of Prosecutions and other lawmaking institutions to fight corruption. Certainly that the law is not made only for the lower and middle administration levels. The change is for everyone. Everyone is honest as long as there is no evidence against this. The changes have been made in the Constitution and have been approved. We are changing the respective laws of the Criminal Code, the articles that today are not applicable and that hamper Prosecutor and Judges to start investigations without the respective authorization”, Naco declared.

What is expected to spur controversies is the evidence that officials will be obliged to bring for justifying their assets. This will not be a competency of the Prosecutor that starts the criminal prosecution.

“Everyone who is suspected of corruption will have his assets seized. They will have to bring evidence for the legitimacy of their assets, or even of the assets of their close relatives”, Naco declared.

What’s the level of justice corruption?

“The justice system has problems in the entire infrastructure. We have built an anti-corruption strategy, in parallel with the general one. This is a strategy related to the Ministry of Justice and the judiciary system. We have built an anti-corruption website where citizens can report the cases of people who are hiding assets, and where they can report prosecutors, judges, notaries, inspectors, prison officials, the property registrar and the property recompensation… the entire justice system”, Naco declared.

This is the package of corruption crimes proposed to be taken under the competencies of the Serious Crimes, especially the crimes committed by high state officials.

Top Channel