May 11th Elections/ SPAK reveals plan of measures to prevent electoral crime

2025-01-29 10:09:00, Aktualitet CNA

The Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime has approved a plan of measures in the framework of the investigation and prevention of electoral crimes for the 2025 parliamentary elections. These measures were issued by Order of the Head of the Prosecution Office, on 24.01.2025, based on the criminal and procedural legislation in force, as well as in implementation of the "Strategy for the Investigation and Prevention of Electoral Crime during the 2025 Parliamentary Elections", of this institution.

MAIN MEASURES:

Establishing an investigative group (Task Force):

The investigative group consists of a) a Central Structure and b) dedicated investigative groups in the field that will carry out investigative actions during the election period.

The Central Structure will be headed by the Head of the Special Prosecution Office and will include prosecutors, BKH investigators, financial investigators, experts and administrative support staff.

Monitoring and Investigation:

The field investigation groups will be composed of prosecutors, BKH investigators, financial investigators, and administrative support staff, divided into 12 Regions and 61 Municipalities.

Field investigation teams will focus on preventing and investigating criminal offenses related to the use of public administration, state infrastructure, and the involvement of criminal groups in the electoral process.

Cooperation:

The Head of the Prosecution, based on the assessment of the situation, signed a cooperation agreement with the Prosecutor General, the Director of the State Police and the State Commissioner for

One of the BKH investigators is designated as the responsible person, who will be in close contact with the Central Election Commission, with the aim of exchanging information and data in real time.

During the election period, field investigation groups also coordinate and cooperate with the heads and the standing prosecutor of the general jurisdiction prosecutor's offices, heads of police directorates and heads of law enforcement agencies, other public institutions, the media, civil society and local government in the area they cover.

Complaints and Public Relations:

A special platform will be set up for complaints from citizens and institutions, including an emergency number, online reporting and an email address. We specify that:

"Information received through this platform is considered informative in nature. Meanwhile, only those that are filed with the prosecutor's office in written form and in a regular procedural form will be considered criminal reports. Prosecutors are obliged to make decisions and notify the complainant only for these criminal reports."

A special working group will be established that will monitor data made public in the media and social networks and will then forward this data to the Central Structure and investigative groups in the field.

Financial Monitoring:

A working group composed of financial investigation investigators and other experts in the field at the Special Prosecution Office will monitor the use of the budget and public investments that are not allowed to be carried out during the election period by special entities.

The Special Prosecution Office invites all citizens, state and private institutions, civil society, the media and the general public to actively engage in support of this process, contributing to the implementation of the law and electoral transparency. Documented and evidence-based complaints are essential to detect and prosecute any criminal act that undermines the integrity of the elections. The Special Prosecution Office guarantees prompt, professional and independent treatment of any information received and invites the public to use official channels for complaints, thus contributing to an effective and timely investigation of criminal offenses within the framework of electoral crime in the jurisdiction of the Special Prosecution Office.

Note:

The criminal offenses within the framework of electoral crimes under the jurisdiction of the Special Prosecution Office are:

-Active corruption in elections (Article 328 of the Criminal Code);

-Passive corruption in elections (Article 328/bi of the Criminal Code);

-Any criminal offense within the framework of electoral crime committed by a structured criminal group, criminal organization, terrorist organization and armed gang (Article 75/a letter (b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure);

-Any criminal offense within the framework of electoral crime committed by senior public officials such as the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the Assembly, the Prime Minister, members of the Council of Ministers, judges of the Constitutional Court and the High Court, the Prosecutor General, the High Inspector of Justice, the mayor, the deputy, the deputy minister, a member of the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecutorial Council, and heads of central or independent institutions defined in the Constitution or in law (Article 75/a letter (c) of the Code of Criminal Procedure)./ CNA