Moldovan president wants every anticorruption officer polygraphed

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin introduced on Thursday the newly appointed director of the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption (CCCEC) Sergiu Burduja to his staff. Voronin criticized the performance of the Center, stating that the main task of the new director will be to redress the situation, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The objectives set at the establishment of the Center concerning fight against corruption, economic crimes, financial and banking infractions have not been fulfilled to the proper extent, the Center's contribution in countering these crimes being insignificant”, the presidential press service quoted Vladimir Voronin as saying. The president also said that the CCCEC officers prefer to use police methods instead of economic ones, which would be the right approach for such an institution. The CCCEC hasn't been enterprising enough in improving the legal framework needed to prevent corruption and economic crimes and hasn't paid proper attention to analytical activities and crime prevention. Voronin added that the inadequate performance of the Center causes financial losses to the government, therefore urgent measures are needed to improve the functionality of this institution. The president mentioned, in particular, the need to revise the organizational chart of the Center and test the staff for knowledge and skills. One of the measures should also be the adoption of amendments that would make polygraph tests compulsory for every CCCEC officer, and eventually, for other law enforcement personnel. Sergiu Burduja, former deputy director of the Intelligence Service, was named CCCEC director on Wednesday by Government ordinance. The position fell vacant after Sergiu Puscuta tendered his resignation on November 19.