The Registry of Seized and Confiscated Goods should be put into practice and should be made public. Despite the anticorruption projects supported by the development partners, this instrument hasn’t been implemented given the existing impediments, including the replacement of three governments during a year, said Lilia Carasciuc, Transparency International Moldova. executive director.
Contacted by IPN for a comment, Lilia Carasciucsaid said the joint EU/CoE Project Controlling Corruption through Law Enforcement and Prevention (CLEP) is over. Besides many very useful activities that were held as part of this project, a very important activity, especially for civil society and the journalists, remained unfinished. This is the Registry of Seized and Confiscated Goods
The TI-Moldova director, who is a member of this project’s Board, said the CLEP sent materials related to this registry to the Assets Recovery Agency. “We highly appreciate the contribution made by European institutions to improving the legal and institutional frameworks for preventing and combating corruption in Moldova. But we are concerned about the fact that the European institutions could issue the competent institutions of Moldova with such materials in good faith, but the Moldovan side would show less interest,” stated Lilia Carasciuc.
She noted that as three governments changed in 2019, it is hard to monitor a government, to report to the second government and then to ask for results from the third government as part of the same project. Besides, the pandemic intervened with its challenges.
During the last few years, says Lilia Carasciuc, the journalists in Moldova identified cases when property that belongs to persons investigated by the law enforcement agencies suddenly became the possession of state functionaries, institution heads or their relatives. “We would like the Delegation of the EU and CoE to make sure, together with civil society, that this registry is put into operation and becomes accessible to society,” noted Lilia Carasciuc.
