Dili, November 20, 2024 (Media Democracia) – CAC held a meeting with focal points attended by various ministries to share information related to the results of the UNCAC implementation assessment. This activity was held at the Meeting Room of the MENEC Diplomatic Studies Center, Dili.
According to CAC, Rui Pereira dos Santos said that this meeting was held together with the ranks of state institutions’ ministries which together with CAC contributed to the assessment of two countries such as the Marshall Islands and Bulgaria.
“This year, two countries, namely the Marshall Islands and Bulgaria, are assessing Timor-Leste, so our country will implement the UNCAC well or not, but I want to convey to all of you that the government of Timor-Leste has made many changes to our codices and we also have a new criminal process to address these issues, our law has been declared by the MPPC by the leadership, therefore part of the Timor-Leste government is compliant based on the requirements of the UNCAC.” He said.
He continued, the most important thing in the justice sector is the Asset Recovery Law, so that criminal acts of corruption are included in the legal process, and must be brought to court, the state must make a decision, therefore it must implement this law and other laws can be implemented to UNCAC.
“Next year, Marshall Islands and Bulgaria will come to Timor Leste to assess and confirm what we wrote in the research report at the ministry. However, the CAC will be held with the ministry in one place, then these two countries will come to discuss with Timor Leste.” He added.
He added that what was even more positive was that they considered the existence of the MPCC Law to be very helpful, related to the article that had been mentioned, people who occupy leadership positions and people who work in risky fields must report their assets.
“The leadership position involves criminal cases, so it is easy for us to carry out orders to prosecute, so we are given the authority to enter the system, so we can know exactly the position of the person because his assets are limited but suddenly there are a lot of goods, then where do all those goods come from?” He added.
He informed that it is the MPCC CAC Act that will register the assets they own, but they are responsible for the court investigation, then the process affects them.
“We also notified the leaders involved in corruption cases but they did not comply, we will reprimand the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Timor Leste to cut their salaries by 25% if they still do not comply we will add 30% because based on the reports we registered the number is more than 400. In addition, we will also notify MS and CFP to apply disciplinary sanctions in the Public Function Commission Law,” he said.
He added that the investigation process for this corruption case is based on a time limit of less than 10 years, which is a very long time for them to falsify documents from 3 to 5 years, but those who get this article are indeed heavy so that it must be processed for up to 10 years before they can get a resolution.
As Deputy Minister for Institutional Provision, Paulo Rémedios said that so far the government has the intention to make changes and implement this new module in accordance with the recommendations of the CAC commissioner.
“I have held regular meetings in the Parliament to decide whether this is an initiative of the Parliament or the government, because we know that our legal authority is outside the authority of the Parliament, because the government proposed it to the Parliament,” said Deputy Minister of Institutions Paulo Remedios.
He continued, Parliament has the desire on the part of Commission A also has the right to implement the law on the matter. Next year there could be a solution to see who has the decision to implement this law, Parliament or the government.
To be clearer, the case of corruption as an occupational disease, the relevant ministry has also decided to appoint someone to be the focal point at this convention for two weeks, represented by the Ministry of Law.
Reported by : Nelfiano
Picture by : Nelfiano