The abolition of detention and the release of Slobodan Peković, accused of monstrous war crimes, due to the expiration of three years in which no first-instance verdict was reached, represents another in a series of examples that we have witnessed for more than three decades, namely that the judiciary in Montenegro is not ready to resolves cases of war crimes at the national level," said Bosniak Party MP Kenana Strujić Harbić.
"Vijesti" announced today that the High Court in Podgorica terminated the custody of Slobodan Peković, who was accused of war crimes against the civilian population, because three years have passed since the indictment was filed without a first-instance verdict.
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Strujić Harbić said that "this scandal must have an answer."
"Whether it is about the lack of will of the holders of judicial and prosecutorial functions to effectively prosecute cases of war crimes and to carry out effective court proceedings, whether it is about the ill-will of the holders of judicial and prosecutorial functions towards war criminals or some kind of intimate approval of them, or about the inability prosecutors and judges to prosecute and judge cases of war crimes, the fact that after three years no first-instance court verdict in the trial for war crimes has not been rendered is a first-class scandal that must not remain unanswered".
He reminds that in the Report of the European Commission on the progress of Montenegro for the year 2023, it was recognized that no adequate progress was made in this area, but also that the holders of prosecutorial and judicial functions publicly promised to ensure efficient prosecution and trials of war crimes cases in the coming period.
"If the result of that efficiency is the failure to issue a first-instance verdict even after three years and the abolition of detention for war crimes suspects, then, gentlemen, you have only ensured the continuation of the practice of impunity for these serious crimes in Montenegro, which has been going on since Šahović, and which was confirmed even after the wars in the nineties in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, but also crimes in the territory of Montenegro that are still without a culprit and punishment".
The member of the Bosniak Party said that in the coming days she will take concrete steps in connection with this "scandalous act", because "dealing with the past is one of the key conditions for the progress of Montenegro and the rule of law, and for dealing with the past it is necessary that the guilty face punishment and the public learns the truth".
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