Law

The European Prosecutor's Office is conducting searches in Sofia, Bulgaria as part of an investigation into corruption and abuse of European funds for the restoration of the historic center of the city, including the famous yellow paving stones, the prosecutor's office reports. The damage amounts to at least 3 million euros.

Supreme Court justices will be required to disclose more of their activities, including some free trips, air travel and other types of gifts, according to rules adopted earlier this month.

Under the new rules, justices and other federal judges must report travel by private jet, as well as stays at commercial properties, such as hotels, resorts or hunting lodges.

BELGRADE - The Serbian government on Thursday adopted bills amending the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Employment of Foreigners.

An official statement released after a government session said the move would enable foreign nationals to attain the right to temporary residence and work in Serbia through a unified procedure.

Aleksandar Sapic, the mayor of the Serbian capital of Belgrade, has filed two separate defamation lawsuits against BIRN Serbia, its editor and journalists, claiming that their reporting damaged his reputation and caused him mental anguish.

LEPOSAVIC - Serb Miljan Jovanovic, a former Kosovo police officer, has been arrested at the Jarinje administrative crossing, his wife Suzana told Tanjug on Wednesday.

Jovanovic, 44, was arrested by Pristina's police on Tuesday as he and his family were on their way home from Raska, central Serbia.

In the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, 25 members of two related groups suspected of money laundering were questioned.
They are suspected of multiple tax frauds related to VAT refunds, which damaged the budget of the Republic of Serbia by more than 246 million dinars.

At the moment, the examinations show that the painting by Jackson Pollock, which was discovered in Bulgaria by the Main Directorate "Fighting Organized Crime", is an original. This was stated on the Bulgarian National Television by the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Petar Todorov.

Within the scope of the investigations carried out by the "earthquake crimes investigation offices" established by the Justice Ministry, the number of arrests of those involved in shoddy and illegal construction methods has increased to 298, of which 104 are contractors.

The Moscow Embassy in Sofia offered an irresistible offer for Bulgarian IT specialists - to emigrate to Russia under a simplified procedure together with their families.

The proposal was uploaded on the Facebook page of the Russian mission in Bulgaria. The campaign is under the motto "Russia - country of opportunities".

The theft of materials from transport networks, especially the railway, will once again be deemed a criminal offense, the justice minister has said.