After nine hours of the parliamentary Committee on Security and Defense, the Executive Director of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) Vanja Ćalović Marković finally took the floor. As an interested member, she reminded the Chairman of the Committee, MP of the Europe Now Movement Midrag Laković, of the long period - from 2004 to 2015, when he was the head of the Anti-Drug Sector at a time of the rise of criminal groups, including Duško Šarić and the late Dragan Dudić Fric.
"We met once during a meeting with international partners. You were leaving, so you asked me what I was doing there, and I told you that I had come to tell them everything that you had skipped telling them. And then you skipped telling them that cocaine was being imported into the Port of Perast on the ships Risan and Perast, not cement. It is impossible that we from MANS saw that drug ships were coming to Montenegro without you knowing about it, and international services knew about it too. And now you, Laković, are the president of the Security Committee, and not only that, but you dare to actively obstruct the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the first director of the Police Administration, the only one who decided to speak out about crime, and not to say that criminals are his friends and comrades. You decided to launch an initiative to obstruct the only form of vetting that we have in Montenegro," Ćalović Marković stated.
She emphasized that Laković, as she stated, was one of the active helpers of the structures from the darkest period.
"My personal opinion is that it is impossible that we saw the cocaine ships without you seizing even 300 grams. That is why this Montenegro is not moving forward. So you are appearing, becoming politically active, and now within the party that is the largest political entity. I would not question your motives, if you had said in one word anything that you know, and you know a lot. You did not have some nice gentleman from Sweden who respects rights as your director, but Veselin Veljović. Duško Golubović was your friend and associate. Was Ljubo Milović your head of drugs in Herceg Novi? You are the last one who should be a member of this Board. To get information about what the new management is doing, let alone obstruct the only thing that has started - vetting in the police," she stated in her address to Laković.
She said that he should be under investigation because he did not see the drug loads at a time when it was obvious what was being done.
"You performed one of the darkest functions in one of the darkest periods - you either didn't see or didn't want to see. There is no way you didn't produce any results. Well, the 'Balkan Warrior' operation, which was carried out without the knowledge of the Montenegrin police, speaks volumes about that period. You should testify in a 'deaf room' about your friends, with whom you still sit today even though they are under SDT charges," said Ćalović.
The MANS executive director stated that Laković has "great institutional knowledge", and then asked the chairman of the Board: "Is it possible that you didn't know anything?"
"I'm sure you knew who Dragan Dudić Fric was and that by buying half of the Old Town of Kotor he was 'laundering' money from drug smuggling," she said.
Ćalović Marković stated that she hopes that Laković will be the subject of an investigation by the police and the prosecution, and she also referred to his property, saying that it is particularly "indicative".
"You work in Sicily. You are one of the owners of Sicily, you pose as a successful businessman. We are working on where you got the money for that. And I believe the Police Department is also working on that. You think that by retiring you put an end to what you were doing. As a society, we should not allow that," she stated.
She mentioned and asked Laković whether, as an acquaintance and friend of Duško Golubović, he had noticed his property.
"Have you seen that he has assets that he cannot explain? Do you have contacts with the accused Dejan Knežević? What about your friendship? Do you still have contacts with him? What are your relations with Milović? These are your friends and first associates. And it would be interesting to know why you retired. Were you part of that package that the international community asked to leave? I would not have suggested this to you if you were not a member of the Committee. That is why you should have said that you have a conflict of interest, and not pretend to be concerned here about whether the verification process within the Ministry of the Interior will be done properly," asked the executive director of MANS.
The executive director of MANS says that she would not have asked Laković all this if, as she stated, he was not trying to obstruct the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in "cleansing" the police of corrupt police officers.
"If you were one of the honest ones, you would have had the opportunity to say a lot by now, and here you are referring to a letter from a police officer. You are now playing the role of a moral purist. I also think that wherever possible, criminal charges should be filed and proceedings initiated. You know the system very well, so you are looking for something that you know no longer exists," she stated.
Laković: I don't give up on my friends
After her presentation, Laković said that this was "a cocktail of accusations", and that the executive director of MANS was trying to attack him, as he said, by attacking the unity of the parliamentary majority through the back door, especially when it comes to the Agreement with the United Arab Emirates.
"When it comes to my friends, I do not give up on them, even if they have some problems when it comes to judicial proceedings. Dejan Knežević is my friend. He did his police work flawlessly. I am waiting for a final court verdict and then I can talk about someone's guilt. I believe that he will prove his innocence, and if the opposite is proven and if he committed a crime, let him receive the sanction he deserves," said Laković.
He also addressed the name-calling about Duško Golubović, stating that he had never had coffee with him and that he had no business with him.
"As a citizen, you thought you should declare how much property you have," he said.
Ćalović Marković replied that MANS entered the campaign against the Agreement with the UAE "very specifically", as she stated, when they realized that Laković was trying to obstruct the "cleansing" of the police of corrupt personnel.
"We have a man who was the head of drugs for years, and we have seen that same man sitting at the head of the Committee and blocking vetting in the Police Directorate," she said.
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