NGOs, media call authorities to comment FATF statement

NEWS 29.01.202119:19
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A group of NGOs and media called the Serbian Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering to take a stand on claims by an international body that it exceeded its powers by investigating 57 individuals in the media and civil sector.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was reported by local portals to have said that the Serbian authorities had no right to demand their financial records from commercial banks. The Serbian Finance Ministry’s Administration in charge of preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism demanded financial records for NGOs and media which the authorities view as opponents.

The group of NGOs and media called the government to publish the key findings of the investigation which they say confirms that they are operating in line with the law. They also called the Administration to take steps to deal with the damage inflicted on them.

The signatories include the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS), Belgrade Human Rights Center, the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights YUCOM and the Humanitarian Law Fund among others.