The nongovernmental organizations that form part of the Civic Initiative for Integrity in the Public Service condemn the ‘superficial attitude’ adopted by the National Integrity Commission (NIC) when examining the case of judge Mariana Pitic concerning the violation of the legal regime of declaration of incomes and property for 2015. The civil society reacted after the NIC ordered dropping the given case, IPN reports, quoting a statement signed by the NGOs.

On April 28 this year, the NIC ordered examining the legal regime of declaration of incomes and property for 2015 after the press disseminated information about the undeclared property of Mariana Pitic’s husband and the unusually small value of the motor vehicles indicated in the income and property statements for 2014 and 2015. On July 14, the Commission established that judge Mariana Pitic committed no violation and dropped the case, arguing the car declared by the judge belongs to her ex-husband whom she divorced in June 2011.

The civil society organizations note that an analysis of the income and property statements for 2014 and 2015, where the car Porsche Cayenne is included, shows that Mariana Pitic is the owner of this car. She indicated that she purchased the vehicle in 2014 for 11,000 lei, in exchange for a BMW-X5 sold for 10,000 lei. These sums are far from showing the real value of the cars. The NIC apparently omitted the fact that fictitious sums were indicated in the documents showing the origin of the vehicles. It is also strange why the Commission didn’t draw attention to the fact that even if she is divorced, Mariana Pitic continues to live in the same house with her ex-husband, without declaring the house, as the journalistic investigation shows.

The NGOs insist that this should be a reference case in the work of the NIC because it involves a judge who should be a person of integrity in virtue of her profession. These consider that by taking such decisions, the Commission goes against its own objective of preventing and combating unjust enrichment and corruption among public servants.

The organizations demand that the National Integrity Commission should fulfill its duties with maximum responsibility and should examine the cases of alleged violation of the legal regime of declaration of incomes and property more thoroughly.

The Civic Initiative for Integrity in the Public Service was launched by Soros Foundation Moldova, the Association of Independent Press, the Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Corruption, the Association for Participatory Democracy and the Journalistic Investigations Center. These aim to increase control over the integrity of persons holding executive posts in public institutions and to monitor the efficiency of the mechanism of checking their property and interests.