The trial of the former leaders of the Ulcinj Municipality, accused of illegal employment, was postponed today in the Higher Court because, as announced in the court, the Parliament of Montenegro is not responding to the request of the Special State Prosecutor's Office and the Higher Court to lift the parliamentary immunity of the accused Ilir Čapunji.
The trial is scheduled to continue on April 9th.
Judge Vesna Kovačević today, at the trial of the former mayor of Ulcinj, Ljoro Nrekić, and other defendants, noted that the Assembly had not responded to numerous letters from the SDT and the High Court.
Special Prosecutor Sanja Jovićević specified that she sent the last, third request to lift Čapunija's immunity to Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandić on February 11. In the letter, she stated that the trial against Nrekić and the others has been continuously postponed for almost a year due to the Parliament's failure to act on the SDT's request.
Prosecutor Jovićević pointed out that she sent the first request to the Parliament on February 26, 2024. After eight months, she sent an urgent request to the Parliament on October 21, 2024.
A week before sending the urgent request, High Court Judge Vesna Kovačević also requested from the Parliament on October 16, 2024, to lift Čapuni's immunity in order to activate criminal proceedings.
The accused Čapuni pointed out that he could not influence the resolution of this problem.
According to the Constitution of Montenegro, every MP has immunity based on which "he cannot be held criminally or otherwise liable or detained for an opinion expressed or a vote cast in the performance of his parliamentary function."
"Criminal proceedings cannot be initiated against a member of parliament, nor can detention be ordered, without the approval of the Parliament, unless he is caught committing a criminal offense for which a penalty of more than five years in prison is prescribed," reads Article 86, adding that the same immunity is also enjoyed by the President of the State, the President and members of the Government, the President of the Supreme Court, the President and judges of the Constitutional Court, and the Supreme State Prosecutor.
In addition to Nrekić and former President of the Ulcinj Municipal Assembly Ilir Čapuni, indictments have also been filed against Secretary for Budget and Finance Sead Osmanović, former Secretary for Communal Activities and Environmental Protection Mustafa Goran, Head of the Protection and Rescue Service Saubih Mehmeti, and Secretary of the Communal Police Milazim Mustafa. They are charged with the criminal offense of negligent performance of duty.
The defendants filed their defense on June 16, 2023, more than a year and a half after the indictment was filed.
During their defense, Nrekić and Čapuni denied abuse of office, explaining that all the persons who, according to the prosecution, were illegally employed had previously performed the same jobs for the former mayor of Ulcinj, Nazif Cungu and Fatmir Đeko, under a contract for service. The defense of the accused then presented the court with the information that the new government had employed 12.000 people under a contract for service in three years.
According to the indictment, Nrekić is charged with having illegally concluded contracts for the performance of temporary and occasional jobs with 31 persons in Ulcinj from January 30 to November 2020, 14, as an official and public official, the Mayor of the Municipality, by exceeding the limits of his official authority, obtained benefits for others and seriously violated the rights of others by illegally concluding contracts for the performance of temporary and occasional jobs with XNUMX persons for the performance of certain tasks, without publishing an announcement of the procedure for filling vacancies and without obtaining a positive opinion and consent from the Ministry of Finance for new employment.
Bonus video:
