TI: Bosnia perceived to be as corrupt as Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Indonesia

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According to the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released by Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still ranked 89th out of the 180 countries assessed, sharing the position with Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Swaziland.

The ranking “reveals that the continued failure of most countries to significantly control corruption is contributing to a crisis of democracy around the world,” TI said.

The level of corruption in Bosnia was scored 38 on a 0 to 100 scale, whereby 0 represents the highest level of corruption, while 100 represents the lowest.

Corruption is a “comprehensive challenge” to the country, TI said, adding that the “complex legal and regulatory frameworks create opportunities for corruption.”

“Further, despite political figures and agencies increasingly voicing their concerns over the dangers presented by corruption, there has been limited activity or political will to combat the issue directly,” TI  said.

The country’s score was 42 in 2012 and 2013, which means Bosnia slipped deeper into corruption since then, according to the assessment.

“Institutions are paralysed by corruption and don’t manage to realise the purpose of their existence, leaving the citizens in a situation in which they cannot achieve their basic human rights,” said the head of the steering board of TI in Bosnia, Srdjan Blagovcanin.

“The destructive consequences of corruption are manifested in the devastation of democratic standards and the lack of economic development,” he said, adding that those in power react to the “increasing dissatisfaction of citizens” with “repression.”

He exemplified that with the arrests of ‘Justice for David’ protesters, a group of citizens who are for months already demanding the truth behind the murder of a young man to be revealed and who are accusing authorities in that part of the country of hiding the murderers.

All regional countries have recorded negative trends, except for Macedonia, where the situation slightly improved throughout the past year.

Croatia was assessed as the least corrupt country in the region, as was the case previously.

Serbia slipped the most, as its score was 41 and now stands at 39.

Somalia, the last ranked country on the list, is scored with 10, while the least corrupt country is Denmark, 88, the assessment said.