Prisoners in Montenegrin prisons have announced a boycott of the upcoming elections if the competent authorities do not fulfill their promises and initiate the process of adopting the amnesty law.
This is what the lawyer told Vijesti Damir Lekic, who, as he claims, represents more than 500 prisoners in the fight for amnesty.
He states that despite numerous promises made by politicians during election campaigns, prisoners and their families are still waiting for concrete steps, while conditions in prisons remain extremely bad.
"For a long period of time, the competent state authorities have not said anything about the law on amnesty. Parliamentary sessions come and go, but there is no mention of this law, not even the slightest hints. Earlier it was said differently. Deputies and their caucuses used to speak with a great deal of responsiveness when this topic was discussed, especially some of them before they were elected by the citizens and elected to certain high positions in politics. As they were elected, they obviously completely forgot about the previously given words and promises, as if they no longer meant anything at all, i.e. as if those words had never come out of their mouths, and they began to remain silent, i.e. to pretend to be mute. , unskilled and forgetful", said Lekić.
He said that their reasons for speaking equivocally about this issue - sometimes one, sometimes another - or when they avoid talking about these topics, explaining that they are very busy and have literally no time to deal with it, are completely irrelevant. ..
"From which it follows that those promises and words given are irrelevant and that those citizens to whom those words and promises were made are completely irrelevant. We understand that, in those deliriums of political drips when collecting votes from voters, in order to win them, one knows how to exaggerate and exaggerate a little chastely, but still only a little, but we cannot understand or accept that all this talk and all these promises are reduced to empty and ordinary insignificant and impersonal words, i.e. some worn-out comments and rhetoric that have no significance at all, as well as no sense, and which are addressed as 'offering, for the sake of order' and which do not have any force, but only given in the sense of - a promise to crazy joy", said the lawyer.
He said that they waited too long, that time is passing but nothing is happening.
"No one advertises in the slightest. There is not even a draft law, not to mention its variant in which it would be on the agenda in the parliamentary procedure and submitted to the people's deputies for a vote. This story would not even have started at all if there were no previously given words and promises. But apparently those who sent these words and made these promises consider that the prisoners are still second-class citizens and that they can deal with them as they want and as they want, and even to their detriment, insulting their human dignity with lies and belittling them by inaction, and in what way they completely undeservedly put them in a very unenviable and unfavorable position, insulting even their intelligence".
He explained that the prisoners wrote about their problem on several occasions, that they took the initiative themselves, threatened to strike and for the sake of exercising their guaranteed rights in accordance with the law, undertook other actions...
"But here, obviously, the favorite recipe is the one related to politics and gathering votes (where it all started), and as elections are soon being held in several places in Montenegro, they uniquely declare that they and their extended and immediate families, if attention is not paid to them immediately, they will not vote at all, which are scheduled for the end of September 2024, which especially applies to the local elections in Podgorica, as well as to all others that will be held... While Crna Worse, and precisely those who in the previous period, until they were elected to high political positions, showered them with words, promises and various eulogies that they would draft a law on amnesty that would be included in the parliamentary procedure and then voted on, do not take concrete measures and actions to it really happens. We think, bearing in mind all the facts and circumstances, that this is a completely fair treatment of those who previously spoke and promised, and for whom the elections are very important, and who in the election campaign have the courage to announce certain things and promise to the citizens in order to gathering votes and gaining their trust, and then later, i.e. soon after, they forget those same words and promises as if they had never been spoken or simply refute them," stated Lekić.
If the prisoners do not soon receive some concrete words from the authorities that will be immediately translated into action, i.e. concrete measures and actions, the prisoners declare in solidarity that neither they nor members of their extended and living families will participate in the upcoming elections in Montenegro, and what it especially applies to those in Podgorica, but not to those of any other that will be organized," said Lekić
The conditions have been bad for a long time, and now this...
With great appreciation and respect and hope that the authorities (these currently elected and high-ranking officials) will take these allegations very seriously, because the prisoners and their extended and immediate families, as already stated, due to, obviously, previously stated untruths and false promises, boycott all subsequent elections in Montenegro.
"And that is until certain concrete measures and actions are taken in this field, i.e. improvements, about which there were so many nice words and promises just before the previously held elections. Because, for the sake of truth, we still do not want to believe that we are being deceived and cheated, even though, you will agree, it really looks like that now, but we are still convinced that they will mention us with upcoming concrete measures and actions, and convince us very soon on the contrary," said Lekić.
He also said that it should not be forgotten that conditions in prisons in Montenegro are extremely bad and that all other mechanisms that are available to prisoners, in order to improve their position and treatment, have failed.
"So the failure to adopt this law on amnesty would be very irresponsible, which is why this described behavior of the authorities is even more expressed in a negative sense," said the lawyer.
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