European chief prosecutor Laura Codruța Kövesi said one cannot have a clean country without a clean justice system. If one has a clean justice system, one cannot have a clean country if the whole society does not contribute to this. Kövesi also said that it is not enough to make investments, to have people convicted of corruption without taking other measures too as corruption should be prevented and there should be an anticorruption education system, IPN reports.
“One cannot conduct the fight against corruption during a month or two and then take a break and go on vacation. It is a continuous fight and we should all realize this. Results are not produced immediately. Solid mechanisms should be introduced, the institutions should be strengthened, proper legislation should be ensured and political will should exist. At least in the meetings I had, I realized that there is a big wish to do reforms, to ensure the institutions of the judiciary system are independent. But we must understand that these changes do not come overnight,” the European chief prosecutor stated in a news conference in Chisinau.
Laura Codruța Kövesi considers the detection rate should be improved first. “If joint investigations are carried out by the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Moldova and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, we surely can provide information existing in all the member states, can furnish evidence, particular data on request. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has access to all the databases at national level and at European level,” said the official.
According to her, the joint investigations will enable to provide assistance in recovering damages. “The remit of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is limited to financial crimes, especially fraud with European funds, fraud with VAT, while the offenses of corruption, money laundering and organized crime are investigated if they are related to such frauds. If we have information from the Moldovan authorities, from counterpart prosecutors and police officers of Moldova that particular Moldovan citizens or firms represented by Moldovan citizens are involved in such activities, we definitely can open an inquiry. We can help our counterparts to identify goods, to sequester goods or to investigate the given persons,” stated Laura Codruța Kövesi.
In Chisinau, Laura Codruța Kövesi met with President Maia Sandu and Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita. A working arrangement between the EPPO and the General Prosecutor’s Office of Moldova is to be signed on Wednesday. This is designed to facilitate the exchange of information between the two institutions and the extradition of wanted persons. Laura Codruța Kövesi will also have meetings with the EU Aid coordinator, the anti-corruption and organized crime prosecutors, representatives of anti-corruption and anti-money-laundering law enforcement institutions as well as civil society organizations active on anti-corruption.
