The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection sent to the Republic Public Prosecutor a letter in which he warned that failure of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade to comply with the Commissioner' decision under which that institution was ordered to provide a requester with information "from which he can learn the number of the case and name and surname of the case prosecutor investigating the demolition of buildings in Hercegovacka street in Belgrade (the "Savamala" case)" was a demonstration of utter disregard for the law and constituted a punishable offence.

The Commissioner believes that disregard for and violation of laws by any public authority is always a reason for concern, particularly when this is done by an authority such as a prosecutor's office, whose main duties include "protection of legality".

The Commissioner therefore expects that the Republic Public Prosecutor, in accordance with her position and authority within the prosecutorial organization, will see to it that the Higher Public Prosecutor in Belgrade acts in accordance with the law.

Making the requested information available to the public provides only minimum public insight into operations of the Higher Prosecutor's Office. Under any circumstances, the public has an indisputable legitimate interest to learn about compliance of public prosecutors and deputy public prosecutors with their legal duty to discharge their duties professionally, diligently, fairly and without undue delay. In the specific case of "Savamala", the interest has an even keener interest in information about this event, which is evident from numerous articles in the media and citizens' public protests, because the Ombudsman, acting pursuant to citizens' petitions, also found serious omissions in the work of competent authorities and services.