18.05.2018.
Communique
In relation to the Decision of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance Rodolјub Šabić, which he sent to the media, the Ministry of Defence deeply regrets the fact that the Commissioner has yet again informed the media first about his decision and only then the Ministry. We particularly regret the fact that the Commissioner has consciously disregarded the fact that no one demands to have an insight into private mobile telephones, and it is utterly incomprehensible why he has forbidden an action which otherwise we cannot take without an order of the Prosecutor’s office or court pursuant to the law. Similarly, he could have forbidden that we issue drivers’ licence which is something that we cannot and will not do.
Also incomprehensible is the claim of the Commissioner that he did not receive a reply from the Ministry of Defence although a competent authority had sent him a written reply and invited him to gain the insight on the premises of the Ministry of Defence into the order of the Minister, whose sole objective is the protection of classified information. The Commissioner did find time to address the media, but he did not find time to come to the Ministry of Defence upon our invitation.
We regret the fact that the Commissioner cannot refrain from political assessments and behave as an impartial body. We hope that in the future, the Commissioner will manage to refrain from using media and social networks as means of communication with the Ministry of Defence and that he will understand that the confidential information that we send him upon his request should not be made public.
