Paradise For Thieves

At the beginning of March it seemed that the arrest of Ministers on a charge of corruption would mark the beginning of the real ``fight against crime'' immediately after the early elections just as the Serbian President announced. However, today it seems that the big affair will amount to nothing while a campaign of ``cleansing'' of discredited officials has been canceled even before it started. Nevertheless, this trial has turned a spotlight on the paradox of the Serbian state governed by law.

It confirmed that hyperinflation cannot occur in the state governed by law, and vice versa: that the state with hyperinflation cannot be governed by law. Specifically, in the autumn of 1992 when, according to the charges, Ministers Vlajkovic and Mihajlovic ``used their positions and overstepped their authority thus illegally acquiring wealth,'' amounting to 2 115 438.80 DM, this sum was equal to one billion dinars according to the `official' exchange rate. Nowadays, one billion dinars is worth little over 1 DM on the black market, or several Marks officially. Hyperinflation has only in a year's time ``devalued'' the alleged profits from corruption so much, that not even recent corrections of the Serbian Criminal Law (which came into effect on September 7) could sustain real severity of the criminal act. Therefore, the sentences were automatically reduced so that Vlajkovic and Mihajlovic are facing between 6 months and 5 years in prison instead of the initial 3 to 5 years.

Automatic re-qualification of the criminal act due to hyperinflation was essential in deciding upon a possible extension of the time in custody. After six months in prison for allegedly stealing one billion dinars, the judge could not rule that their time is extended. Vlajkovic and Mihajlovic were thus released on September 10. There is great likelihood that they'll never have to set their eyes on uncomfortable prison cells again.