2024-04-09 16:58:01
The Central Port Authority of Rhodes is once again in turmoil due to a new preliminary disciplinary and criminal investigation against its executives, senior and junior, following new anonymous complaints, which caused Prosecutorial interventions and an extensive investigation by the Internal Affairs Service.
The complaints, according to the indications of the port officers involved in the process, probably emanate from their colleagues and are part of a more general internal “settlement of accounts” as in recent years the vital service, responsible for the protection of our critical coasts, cannot find its peace of mind. and to carry out its work and mission.
The complaints (reportedly three) refer to widespread corruption phenomena that are not all related to each other, and the offenses range from breach of duty to bribery and criminal organizations.
Coastguards have been alarmed by the improbable things reported and the crimes described, while the anger is such that it is really hard to believe that in some cases it is not exaggerations or lies.
What is certain is that the whole process has caused an investigation and a senior port officer is also on the island as part of an investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Maritime Court of Piraeus and he has sent summonses to a multitude of persons from whom he was asked to take statements.
Corruption is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that occurs in all forms of political systems and has economic and social consequences. A widely accepted definition of corruption is the “abuse of power for private gain.”
It is a common belief that corruption itself breeds more corruption and encourages a corrosive culture of impunity. The many and different levels of manifestation of the phenomenon in our country demonstrate its timelessness, which makes its fight extremely difficult but also imperative.
Corruption is, in addition to a moral handicap, a brake on every attempt at development and progress. In recent years, however, important steps have been taken to apply transparency and control rules.
Since May 2019, when the Internal Affairs Service of the Security Forces was established, as a single anti-corruption mechanism, until today, it continues the work of the former Directorate of Internal Affairs with increased guarantees of impartiality and independence in an institutional environment of modernization and progress.
After all, the reform of the regulatory framework that governs its operation has led to the realization of the mission through a more upgraded role.
The main mission of the Internal Affairs Service of the Security Forces is to investigate and ascertain specific crimes, in which police officers, port officers, firefighters and public officials are involved in any way, taking advantage of the power granted by the state.
The primary objective is the decisive contribution to the national effort to prevent and fight corruption, given that legality, transparency and efficiency are the basic characteristics of the defense of the Republic.