"What is born as a hump, time does not correct". (Valtazar Bogišić)
The verdict of the Appellate Court, on the crime "Kaludjerski laz", did not "surprise" me, and I'm sure not the entire Montenegrin and wider public. It is only one in a series of court decisions that confirmed truths, i.e. that in Montenegro, without any doubt, there were crimes and victims, but that for now there are no criminals. Why this is so, we do not yet have clear answers, but one thing is absolutely true: until the judiciary is freed from strong political restraint and the so-called ordered justice or until someone from the prosecution is called to professional responsibility due to the so-called "bosh" of justice, we will continue to face absurdities, which are nothing but deliberate and continuous killing of justice or one big nothing.
When it comes to the crime in Kaluđerski laz, it is more than obvious that in the sense of "seeking justice", something unwanted, but certainly not accidental, happened there. Although the criminal prosecution authorities knew about the crime, for five full years none of those in charge of it did anything to give real answers as to why twenty-two civilians were killed in the area of Rožaj in 1999 and who did it. The crime was only reported in 2005 by a non-governmental organization, and the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office at that time, it turns out, "checked and it turned out to be irresponsible" based on some key, it chose the names of the people it would accuse. A lazy, noticeably superficial and insufficiently professional investigation followed, and then a controversial search with the strangest decisions about the time and method of detaining people whose names were only known from the media.
From the very beginning, it was my intention to investigate the crime to its fullest extent and to bring the individuals responsible to justice. Who are the perpetrators, the manner of committing the crime, the legal qualification and other aspects of the crime were and remain the exclusive matter of the prosecution. Therefore, I appeal to the prosecutor's and judicial council to ask the institutions whose activity they supervise and control, to ask for serious and reasonable answers about how the allegedly factually and legally flawed indictment and court proceedings, which resulted in an acquittal, came to be. I especially insist on that, because, apparently, someone's bad intentions, professional ignorance or a cunningly determined accusation, after all, if for nothing else, now due to the payment of the defense and the unjustified detention of those who are destined to be, and how expensive innocent taxpayers. As the crime has not yet been properly investigated, and the victims "say" that the crime was committed, I ask that this case not be closed with bad and ordered justice, but only with a true accusation and a fair court decision, which will clearly name the perpetrators, define responsibility, consequences and the crime call it by its real name.
Whether it is a coincidence or an intention that may even have deep political connotations cannot be reliably said, but it is quite true that both the accusation and the verdict in this case took place at a time when the Montenegrin judicial sky was "sailing and ", more precisely, ruled indisputably, and is still ruled by one and the same person. As a result of that truth, or perhaps as in the children's game "we untangle ourselves, we entangle ourselves", for the "judicial chaos" from the Kaludjerski laz case and other prosecuted crimes, we ask ourselves who to hold responsible for. If it is requested from the prosecutor's office, we will reach one and the same person, who is now also responsible for court justice on the same matter. Whether by chance, by circumstances or by some intention, who can already know, but everyone's Sisyphean search for justice and responsibility will lead to that vicious circle from which I am convinced that the "state of law" will not be able or willing to take us out of this time.
Summarizing the overall prosecutorial-judicial, factual and legal approach related to this case, the closest answer to the truth may lie in the fact that the accused were practically "for reasons unknown to us or with awareness of the final outcome", brought to trial, I guess Montenegro presented itself then and now as a legal state, resolved to face the past. On the other hand, it will turn out that with the extremely unprincipled selection of the defendants, perhaps even deliberately presented with only seven of the possible thirty, an "alibi" and a good maneuver for the defense - because who can prove who was killed by whose rifle. If it is known that military order rests on strict rules of command, direct and vertical responsibility, and that civilians were not shot by less than thirty soldiers, that all actions in the military sense must be traced and answered, that it is known who ordered and allowed removal of corpses, which means covering up the crime, it turned out - there are no responsible persons according to Montenegrin justice and fairness. Apparently, the commander-in-chief's recognition of the consequences of the military confrontation with the KLA members, in which on one side there were no victims and on the other side women, unarmed people and children were killed, did not help either. The circle is definitely closed with the verdict as a product of all that, which comes in the form of a "certificate of justice" or just as a kind of collateral legal damage, but only for the victims and their families, also a kind of confirmation that this CG is still far from effective and true justice . That is why it was not without reason that Bogišić said: "When a hump is born, time does not correct it" - and in this prosecutorial-judicial legal "slalom", there is a lot of what was a hump and what remained so - we are again at the beginning of a new prosecutorial-judicial story and the truth about the real perpetrators, principals and command responsibility - we are waiting.
Bonus video:
