The Investigation Department of the Ministry of Finance released a statement today, on November 7, 2016, according to which, the Public Defender’s statement about the alleged offense committed by financial police officers is biased, does not reflect the actual circumstances of the case and misleads the public.

The Public Defender, after questioning citizen Sh.K. and studying his arrest and medical documentation, called on the Prosecutor's Office to launch an investigation into the alleged case of ill-treatment. According to the medical documents, citizen Sh.K. had been suffering from concussion, broken nose and other injuries.

Results of the examination conducted by the Public Defender does not rule out the content of the statement of the Ministry of Finance, including alleged commission of a crime by
Sh.K., though the grounds and goal of the Public Defender's appeal to the Prosecutor's Office was conduct a timely, thorough and objective investigation.

The Public Defender reminds the public, including the Ministry of Finance, that the Public Defender is not authorized to carry out a criminal investigation, while the abovementioned factual circumstances provide grounds for launching an investigation by the Prosecutor's Office - if the detainee is suffering from injuries, impartial and comprehensive investigation will establish whether he had been ill-treated by law enforcement officers and whether excessive and/or disproportionate force was used. The positive obligation of the state undertaken by the national and international law is to carry out an objective investigation.