The media center announced today that it filed criminal charges against the members of the Council of Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG), RTCG General Director Boris Raonic and legal representatives of RTCG.
"The media center filed a criminal complaint today with the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica against the president and members of the RTCG Council: Veselin Drljević (president), Filip Lazović, Naod Zorić, Predrag Miranović, Amina Murić, because as public officials they refused to execute a final and enforceable court order judgments and enabled the acquisition of illegal benefits to the illegally elected general director of the RTCG, Boris Raonić, thereby committing the criminal offense of non-execution of a court verdict from Article 395 and the criminal offense of abuse of official position from Article 416 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro," the press release of the Media Center, signed by Goran Đurović, emphasizes , director.
The announcement adds that on May 10, 2023, the High Court in Podgorica issued a verdict confirming the decision of the Basic Court in Podgorica that Boris Raonic was illegally elected to the position of General Director of RTCG in August 2021 due to the existence of a conflict of interest because at the time appointment was a public official, i.e. a member of the Council of the Agency for Electronic Media, which is prohibited by the Law on RTCG.
"The judgment of the High Court left the possibility to the defendant (RTCG) to select a new general director from among the remaining candidates in the 2021 competition or to re-announce the competition. The final judgment of the High Court decisively stated: "The legal consequence of annulling the appointment decision is re-election between the registered candidates or cancel the competition, in which procedure the defendant has the opportunity to reconsider the remaining applications and to decide in accordance with the law." As the representative of the defendant, the RTCG Council is responsible for the implementation of the final court verdict in this case. Based on the decision of the RTCG Council 01 -3576 from June 1, 2023, it can be concluded that the list of candidates for the re-election of the general director included 4 candidates Nikola Marković, Milutin Stijepović, Srđan Čović and also Boris Raonić, which is in direct contradiction to the judgment of the High Court which orders that in the repeated procedure the selection can be made only from the remaining candidates, which certainly does not include Boris Raonic," the announcement reads.
The Media Center stated that the president and members of the Council of RTCG: Veselin Drljević (president), Filip Lazović, Naod Zorić, Predrag Miranović, Amina Murić participated in the statement about the list of candidates, including Boris Raonic.
"According to the decision of the RTCG Council 01-3576 from June 1, 2023, the voting result was 4 votes for Boris Raonic, while 1 ballot was invalid, i.e. no candidate was selected. By the act of voting by the members of the RTCG Council on the list of candidates on which is also Boris Raonić, the criminal offense of non-execution of a court verdict has been committed under Article 395 of the Criminal Code: "An official or responsible person who refuses to execute a final and enforceable court decision shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for up to two years." Also, by re-election of Boris Raonić, contrary to the judgment of the High Court, committed the criminal offense of "abuse of official position" from Article 416 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates: "An official who, by unlawfully exploiting his official position or authority, by exceeding the limits of his official authority or by failing to perform his official duty, obtains benefits himself or another, causes harm to another or seriously violates the rights of another, shall be punished by imprisonment from six months to five years." The non-execution of the judgment of the High Court and the illegal re-election of Boris Raonic to the post of general director caused damage to the remaining candidates for the election of the general director of RTCG (Nikola Marković, Milutin Stijepović, Srđan Čović)," said the Media Center.
They state that three candidates were discriminated against for the second time in the selection procedure for the general director of RTCG.
"While damage was caused to the remaining candidates, at the same time, through the illegal use of their official position and authority by the members of the RTCG Council, Boris Raonić obtained a benefit amounting to around 3.500 euros per month (monthly net income)," said the Media Center.
They stated that "in addition, a criminal complaint was filed today against Boris Raonić, head of the RTCG legal department Želimir Mićović and RTCG lawyer Zorica Đukanović, because they encouraged the president and members of the RTCG Council to commit a criminal offense, failure to execute a final and enforceable court verdict and enabled the acquisition of illegal benefits to the illegally elected general director of the RTCG, Boris Raonić, thereby committing the criminal offense of inciting the commission of a criminal offense under Article 24 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
"In preparation for the session of the RTCG Council dedicated to the dismissal and re-appointment of the general director of RTCG (held on June 1, 2023), a preparatory meeting of the president and members of the RTCG Council was held with other RTCG officials, including representatives of the legal service and lawyers of RTCG. At the preparatory meeting 31 Council members: Veselin Drljević, Filip Lazović, Naod Zorić, Predrag Miranović, Amina Murić, Milica Špajak, Marijana Camović Veličković, Bojan Baća participated in the meeting held in the RTCG premises in May 2023. The meeting was also attended by Irena Vešović and Želimir Mićović from the RTCG legal service, as well as RTCG officials Mitar Rakčević, Ivan Leković and others," the announcement reads.
The Media Center stated that Boris Raonic also participated in the preparatory meeting on May 31, 2023, who, according to the RTCG lawyer present, Zorica Đukanović, was already the former general director of RTCG.
"The presence of the former general director of RTCG Raonic at the preparatory meeting on May 31 has no basis in the law or any internal, general act of RTCG, so it is justified to conclude that the purpose of his presence was to put pressure on the members of the RTCG Council and to encourage non-execution of the High Court's verdict At the preparatory meeting, the then former general director Raonic proposed the order of steps in solving the newly created situation as well as the time of the Council session scheduled for June 1, 2023. According to the statement (given to the media) by the member of the RTCG Council, Marijana Camović Veličković, at the preparatory meeting, already prepared a scenario according to which, at the official session of the RTCG Council (scheduled for June 1, 2023), a re-vote on the candidates should be held, including Boris Raonic. During the preparatory meeting held on May 31, 2023, a representative of the legal department Želimir Mićović as well as lawyer Zorica Đuknović disputed the High Court's verdict and suggested a solution that went in favor of Boris Raonic, which implied that Raonic should also be placed on the list of candidates on whom the RTCG Council should declare at the official session of the RTCG Council scheduled for 1 June 2023," the Media Center said.
The announcement states that from the statements in the media on May 31, 2023, as well as based on the course of the session and the performance of the head of the legal department Želimir Mićović and RTCG lawyer Zorica Đukanović, it can be unequivocally concluded that their statements deliberately influenced and incited the members/ ce of the RTCG Council for committing the criminal offense of non-execution of a final and enforceable court verdict (Article 395 of the Criminal Code).
"Based on the decision of the RTCG Council 01-3576 from June 1, 2023, it can be concluded that the defendants Boris Raonić, Želimir Mićović and Zorica Đukanović succeeded in their plan to influence individual members of the RTCG Council and incite them to commit criminal acts because the list of candidates for general director included 4 candidates Nikola Marković, Milutin Stijepović, Srđan Čović and also Boris Raonić, which is in direct contradiction to the judgment of the High Court. the offense of inciting the commission of a criminal offense from Article 24 of the Criminal Code: Whoever intentionally incites another to commit a criminal offense shall be punished as if he had committed it himself," the Media Center said.
They expect the Basic State Prosecutor's Office to conduct an efficient investigation and initiate proceedings before the competent court, because as they state, any delay in the implementation of the proceedings would be a clear message to citizens and other social entities that disobeying final court judgments is behavior for which no one will be held accountable.
"If the Basic State Prosecutor's Office delays the implementation of a fairly simple fact-finding procedure in the Raonic case, with its irresponsible work it will become an accomplice in the complete collapse of the constitutional principle of the rule of law. If disobedience of court judgments by public officials is not sanctioned with maximum penalties, it cannot be expected that the courts they do their work in a better way than before," concluded the Media Center announcement.
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