The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance has been approached by an increasing number of journalists from several media outlets regarding the information about funding of the recent election campaign. Basically, they wanted to know the following: are the funding reports submitted by the parties to the Republic Election Commission (RIK) available prior to being published in the official Gazette?

In that respect, the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic said:

“By information of public importance, the Law deems every information held by a public authority, which has been created in the work or related to the work of the public authority, which is contained in a certain document and pertains to something that is in the public's rightful interest to know.

Everyone's entitled to be made available the information of public importance and the government authority holding that information is required to make it available to the requestor without delay and no later than within 15 days. Whether these documents are publicly released or not is of no importance.

Reports submitted by parties are without any doubt documents containing information of public importance. Publishing these reports is indeed the way to ensure their availability to the broadest circle of interested parties, but they should be accessible to the public even prior to their publishing.

Besides, reports have been made, documented and signed by responsible persons in political parties. These persons stand behind them and they can't be altered. The content of the reports will not change even if RIK, using its right and duty to check the reports, should ascertain any defects, inaccuracies or inconsistencies. Such a situation should result in activating certain legal mechanisms of responsibility, but would not affect the realization of the right to free access to information.”