Online Magazine Publishes Leaked Emails of Serbian Government Agency · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

Online magazine Balkanist was among several media to receive over 300 leaked emails from the Investment and Export Promotion Agency of the Republic of Serbia (SIEPA) that allegedly reveal corruption, nepotism, misappropriation of Agency funds and several other malpractices of the government agency's top officials and employees. SIEPA Director Božidar Laganin warned that these emails were obtained illegally and could have been manipulated, claiming that SIEPA servers had been hacked, thus anyone considering publishing or distributing them further should be aware of possible legal consequences if they did so. Mr. Laganin handed in his official resignation as Director of SIEPA shortly after making this statement.
Balkanist staff decided to publish an analysis of a portion of the emails [sr], as well as publish screenshots of some of them. As the author of the article and co-founder of Balkanist magazine, Srećko Šekeljić, explains:
Na adresu Balkanista je u ponedeljak 11. novembra prosleđeno preko 300 mejlova visokih funkcionera Agencije za promociju izvoza i stranih ulaganja Vlade Srbije (SIEPA) koji, u slučaju da se dokaže njihova autentičnost, sadrže naznake postojanja korupcije i nesavesnog postupanja u rukovođenju ovom agencijom.
U Agenciji za borbu protiv korupcije nam je potvrđeno da “iz sadržine dopisa primljenih elektronskom poštom, proizlazi sumnja da su izvršena krivična dela za koja se goni po službenoj dužnosti”. Na pitanje Balkanista šta će Agencija preduzeti u vezi sa informacijama koje su na naše adrese “procurele” iz SIEPA-e, rečeno nam je da su primljeni materijal “prosledili Apelacionom javnom tužilaštvu u Beogradu na dalju nadležnost i postupanje”.
Over 300 emails from highly positioned employees of the Investment and Export Promotion Agency of the government of Serbia (SIEPA) were forwarded to the address of Balkanist on Monday, November 11, which, if proven to be authentic, contain evidence of the existence of corruption and irresponsible acts in managing this agency.
The Anti-corruption Agency has confirmed that “from the content of the correspondence received by email, there is reason to suspect that criminal acts have been committed that will be prosecuted by legal obligation”. When asked by Balkanist what the [Anti-corruption] Agency will do with the information that was “leaked” from SIEPA, we were told that the received materials “have been forwarded to Public Prosecutor's office of the Appeals Court in Belgrade for further jurisdiction and action”.