Source: : Politika
Awards for implementation of the Law on Free Access to Information granted to the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-government and the Municipality of Smederevo.
“I admit it does seem a bit unusual that you should receive an award just for obeying the law”, said the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-government, Mr. Milan Markovic, commenting on the award that Ministry received for its contribution to the implementation of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance. The main award for implementation of the Law and for transparency of activities was granted to the Supreme Commercial Court of Belgrade and its network of commercial courts. At the local self-government level, the award was granted to the Municipality of Smederevo.The recipients received their awards from the Commissioner for Information of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Rodoljub Sabic, at the ceremony held to celebrate the International Right to Know Day, observed in about one hundred countries. This meeting was an occasion to point to the new possibilities opened to the citizens and journalists under the Law, which serves as a tool for controlling the government and combating corruption. Mr. Danny Iber, representative of the CoE Secretariat General, emphasized the active role of that organization in the preparations for FOIA enactment in Serbia; both he and other participants reminded that non-governmental organizations, more than any other stakeholder, should be credited with initiating the adoption of the law.
Mr. Hans Ola Urstad, Head of OSCE Mission to Serbia, expressed unequivocal admiration for Commissioner Sabic's efforts to make the Law more than just empty words. He called on the authorities to observe the public's right to know and encouraged the citizens and journalists to use the options given to them under the Law. The participants of the meeting, including the NGO Coalition on Freedom of Access to Information, the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia, the American Bar Association (ABA/CEELI) and others, launched an initiative to introduce, as early as in the following year, an “award” for bodies ad organizations which most persistently obstructed the public's right to know.
