The Podgorica High Court, despite the opposition of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office, "washed" the biography of Mrđan Kovačević and enabled him to be employed and promoted to the position of head of the Bar cadastre.
Kovačević was finally convicted of attempted murder and illegal possession of weapons - despite this, the panel of the High Court led by Boris Savić allowed him to undergo judicial rehabilitation, that is, they canceled the legal consequences of the final verdict, at his request.
After that, he applied for the position of adviser in the Tivat cadastre, and since this year he has been the acting head of the Regional Unit of the Real Estate Administration in Bar.
The Law on Civil Servants and State Employees does not recognize a rehabilitation institute. On the contrary, this law is clear: in the state administration, an employment relationship can be established by a person who has not been convicted of a criminal offense that makes him unfit to work in a state body.
The Directorate for Cadastre and State Property said that after reviewing the documentation, they found that Kovačević was temporarily assigned to the post of Acting Head of PJ Bar by decision of the former management. He was deployed while Dragan Kovačević was at the head of the then administration, later accused of abuse of official position. He's on the run.
"After reviewing the personnel documentation of the former Real Estate Administration, Mrđan Kovačević established the employment relationship through a public advertisement of the Human Resources Administration, based on the ranking list, the former Real Estate Administration made a decision to establish an employment relationship in PJ Tivat for the position of Independent Advisor II. Also, by looking at the documentation, we found that Mrđan Kovačević was temporarily assigned to the position of Acting Head of the PJ Bar by the decision of the former Real Estate Administration", they replied from that Administration.
They also announced that they will check the personal files of all employees in the earlier period. Dragan Kovačević headed the Real Estate Administration for almost 10 years.
The Human Resources Administration explained that Mrđan Kovačević was included in the list of candidates who meet the requirements of the advertisement in question because he submitted the decision of the High Court, which abolished the legal consequences of his conviction.
"And after the verification procedure, where he achieved a satisfactory result, he was chosen by the head of the Real Estate Administration".
Mrđan Kovačević did not answer the call of "Vijesti" journalists.
That former police inspector was convicted in 2013 of attempted murder of the godfather Aleksandar Spičanović and illegal possession of weapons in October 2012 in the center of Podgorica.
The High Court did not want to announce who the single judge was, or which panel of judges made the decision on rehabilitation, nor how many such cases there have been so far.
"The practice of the court is not to announce the names of the council members who make decisions, as well as the fact that the court does not keep a separate record of the number of cases formed due to the request for the termination of the legal consequences of the conviction", explained the court.
In the Kovačević file, which "Vijesti" had access to, however, it is written that the decision was made by a panel presided over by the president of the High Court in Podgorica, Boris Savić, and including judges Vesna Pean and Suzana Mugoša.
In the explanation, it is written that in January 2019, Kovačević submitted a request to that court to erase the legal consequences of the verdict pronounced on April 22, 2013, by which he was sentenced to two years and one month in prison.
"Indicating that he needs it in order to participate in public competitions for work in state bodies in the profession".
It was clarified that from the letter of the Police Administration - Podgorica Security Center, it appears that Kovačević was registered in 2003 for the criminal offense of abuse of official position and illegal trade, and in 2012 for attempted murder and illegal possession of weapons and explosive materials.
"Article 122 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro stipulates that when three years have passed from the date of the served, expired or pardoned sentence, the court may decide to end the legal consequences of the conviction related to the prohibition of acquiring a right, if it has not already ended due to rehabilitation. The second paragraph of the same article stipulates that when deciding the legal consequences of a conviction, the court will take into account the behavior of the convicted person after the conviction, whether he compensated for the damage caused by the criminal offense and returned the property benefit obtained from the criminal offense, as well as other circumstances that indicate the justification of the termination of the legal consequences ", the decision reads.
They also explained that they made such a decision bearing in mind that Kovačević has not committed a new criminal offense since the day his sentence expired.
Several lawyers told "Vijesti" that the Law on Civil Servants and Employees and the Criminal Code are in conflict, and that in this and every similar case the Law on Civil Servants and Employees should be the lex specialis, i.e. the regulation that should most closely determine conditions on the basis of which a person can be employed in state bodies. Lawyers do not dispute the possibility of the so-called rehabilitation of ex-convicts, but they state that this institute is not covered by the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees. However, they were not ready to declare it officially.
According to the Law on Civil Servants and Employees in a state body, an employment relationship can be established by a person who has not been convicted of a criminal offense that makes him unfit to work in a state body.
By force of law, the employment relationship ends with an employee who has been sentenced to an unconditional prison sentence of at least six months by a final judgment - on the day the final judgment is delivered to the authority.
Kovačević was hired by the Real Estate Administration under a work contract in April 2012, that is, six months before he was arrested for the attempted murder of the godfather. According to the work contract, he continued to work until 2019, as "Vijesti" previously reported.
The conviction remained in his criminal records
The Personnel Administration explained that a conviction in accordance with the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees "represents an obstacle to establishing an employment relationship", but that Kovačević submitted the decision of the High Court in Podgorica Kv. No. 39/19 of February 19, 2019, which abolishes the legal consequences of a conviction related to the prohibition of acquiring a certain right.
"In the decision of the High Court, it is stated that Mrđan Kovačević submitted to this court a request for the termination of the legal consequences of the conviction in order to acquire certain rights, according to the judgment of the High Court in Podgorica dated April 22, 04, stating that he needs the same in order to participate in public competitions for work in state bodies in the profession. In the explanation of the decision of the Higher Court in Podgorica, it is stated that prison sentences from this domain remain in the criminal record and cannot be deleted, but the legal consequences that those judgments produce in terms of the acquisition of certain rights can be abolished or suspended and enable the convicted person to later for a certain period of time and in spite of that judgment, he performs a certain activity. In the decision in question, it is stated that in this particular case, the conditions are met for Mrđan Kovačević to have the legal consequences of his conviction lifted, which refer to the prohibition of acquiring a certain right according to the judgment of this court", explained the Human Resources Administration.
We inform you that the Administration for Cadastre and State Property will carry out an individual review of the personnel documentation of the former Real Estate Administration and the Property Administration for all persons who were hired through a public advertisement," said the Administration.
Served two-thirds of the sentence
In the decision of the High Court, which "Vijesti" has access to, it is also written that Kovačević received a conditional discharge while serving his prison sentence, that is, that he spent two-thirds of his sentence behind bars.
After the time spent in custody, Kovačević was in the Administration for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions from January 13 to December 18, 2014.
"When he was paroled. The regular expiry of the sentence was on August 18, 2015. It follows from the letter from ZIKS that the convicted person fully complied with the rules of house rules while serving his sentence and was not disciplined", the High Court Decision reads.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
