Continuing of synchronized pressures on the Council as an attempt to prevent the corruption investigation and informing the public about this problem.

In less than a month and a half, on the address of the Anti-Corruption Council, three Milan Beko’s lawsuits arrived. After the lawsuit filed on 14th January 2011, on which the Council has informed the public, Milan Beko filed another one on 1st February, saying that in the name of emotional distress and violation of honor and reputation, he requested two million dinars. This time Beko files the charges against the Council’s president Verica Barac for her appearance in the show on Radio B92 - "Kažiprst" on 22nd November last year, in which, as it is claimed in the lawsuit, "she presented a series of false allegations which are serious accusations against the plaintiff". Verica Barac, as it is said in Beko's lawsuit, by her appearance, created the image of Beko in the public as an unscrupulous man, who is engaged in illegal and speculative activities, who causes damage to the companies, the state, who blackmails the highest national leadership and, in a word, who does not hesitate in anything and just for personal gain. All this, Beko says, is damaging his reputation, although he is known as a successful businessman, so he suggests that Verica Barac publicly withdraw the statement given in "Kažiprst".

The Anti-Corruption Council wrote a response to this complaint and, as before, decided to forward it to the media, because the frequent complaints that are addressed to the Council and ordered texts in different media, which are owned or controlled by tycoon and privileged individuals, clearly show that the pressure on the Council continues. This was confirmed by a situation on 14th January, when first Milan Beko’s lawsuit arrived asking for two million dinars, regarding to the facts presented in the Analysis of anti-trust legislation from 2006 to 2010, which, on 17th December 2010, was submitted to the Government and published on the official web site of the Council. Then, just three days after the response of the Council on the untruths that Milan Beko presented in the show "Between the lines" on TV B92, in Beko’s "Vecernje novosti" the article titled "Who advises Barac" was published, in which, the unsigned author, among other things, wonders why the Council isn’t disbanded. Milan Beko did not miss the opportunity, in the lawsuit filed on 1st February, to open that question saying that the President of the Council strongly condemns the corruption in public, in order to justify her work and the existence of the Council. A similar observation was written on 17th March by Dragoljub Zarkovic, editor of the weekly magazine "Vreme", who once was a synonym for investigative journalism.

Intensifying of the pressure continued on 9th March, when Milan Beko filed another lawsuit to The High Court in Belgrade against the Council. This time, Beko requires that the official web site of the Council removes the criminal complaint that was filed in connection with the unlawful taking over the shares of the Port of Belgrade, because by placing the document on the website of the Council, it was created the public impression on him as a "notorious criminal".

Because of this, the Council sees the common complaints and lawsuits for defamation, filed on the facts which the Council came to in its research and presented them to the public, as an attempt to prevent the corruption investigation and informing the public on this issue, while the Government, in fact, encourages such attempts by its refusal to take a position in relation to the pressures on the Council. It is also the reason why the Council decided this time to publish a response to Milan Beko’s lawsuit on 1st February. The deadlines for response to the lawsuit, which was forwarded to the Council on 9th March, are still ongoing.
 

Response of the Anti-Corruption Council on Milan Beko’s lawsuit can be downloaded here.