Commissioner for information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection Rodoljub Sabic considers that ultimatums put by assignees of the Port of Belgrade to the Council for the Fight Against Corruption whereby they require from the Council to remove from its official electronic presentation posted documents are contrary to the Serbian Constitution and the Law on Free Access to Information which guarantee the right of the public to information held by the Government.

In connection with that, Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic also said the following: 

"The Serbian Constitution guarantees under Article 51 the right to access to information held by public authorities to everyone in accordance with the Law. The Law on Free Access to Information envisages under Article 2 that information of public importance is any information created in operation or in connection with operation of public authorities, contained in a specific document and relating to everything the public has a justified interest to know. The Law also envisages that it is deemed that there is always a justified interest of the public unless proven otherwise by public authorities.

The said provisions of the Law on free Access to Information without any doubt pertain to documents such as the letters of the Council for the Fight against Corruption sent to senior public officials or the Memorandum concluded between the city of Belgrade and the Port of Belgrade. It means that the Council had not only the right, but also the duty to make them available to the public on anyone's request.

Posting of documents on official electronic presentation of the Council is also compliant with a democratic concept affirmed in the world that public authorities have the duty to make available information of public importance to the public not only on requests from the media or citizens, but on proactive basis as well.

Those who disagree with concepts, opinions and evaluations of the Council or any other public authority have the possibility to respond to them, to polemize, but they do not have the right to request of public authorities to deny information they learned in operation or in connection with operation. Such ultimatums, especially if they are associated with prospect of any inconveniences in this or any other case, are making operation of public authorities more difficult and threat exercise of citizens' rights enshrined in the Constitution and the Law."