All disciplinary proceedings against members of the National Security Agency (ANB) are classified, so the public cannot find out whether an operative has been internally punished for, for example, “handling official weapons in violation of the regulations governing the possession, carrying and handling of official weapons by Agency employees” or, as in a recent case, V. Đ. who is facing charges of domestic violence before the Podgorica Basic Court.
"Vijesti", in accordance with the Law on Free Access to Information, requested from the ANB all documents containing data and information on judicial and disciplinary proceedings conducted against employees of the National Security Agency in the period from September 1, 2020 to April 1, 2025.
The ANB rejected such a request, stating in its explanation that the Agency is in possession of the indictments that initiated criminal proceedings against individual Agency employees and accompanying documents.
"Access to the aforementioned documentation is denied in accordance with Article 14, paragraph 1, item 3, indent 7 of the Law on Free Access to Information, which prescribes the restriction of access to information in the case of prevention of investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of criminal offenses, in order to protect against the disclosure of data related to the efficiency of the conduct of the procedure," the ANB response states.
The Agency also points out that they have conducted a test of the harmfulness of disclosing the information and determined that its disclosure would "significantly jeopardize an interest that is of greater importance than the public's interest in knowing that information, given that it has been determined that the acts in question contain data whose disclosure could result in negative consequences for ongoing criminal proceedings."
At the same time, it was determined that there is no overriding public interest as prescribed by Article 17 of the Law.
The National Security Agency, it was confirmed, is in possession of data and information relating to disciplinary proceedings conducted against Agency officials in the indicated period.
"The request sought documentation that was determined to be classified and represents an integral part of the Agency's Personnel Records, which, in accordance with Article 37a of the ANB Law, was classified "SECRET" by decision number 250/19-10-6806/1 of December 26, 12," the ANB said.
The Agency points out that, given that the Law on Free Access to Information stipulates that the provisions of the aforementioned law, among other things, do not apply to information for which there is an obligation to keep it secret, in accordance with the law governing the field of classified data, the request for access to information is rejected.
This topic has come into the public spotlight again these days due to the case of ANB operative V. Đ., who is facing charges of domestic violence before the Podgorica Basic Court, which was written about by "Vijesti".
Officially, the ANB did not want to answer whether they had initiated disciplinary proceedings against that officer, citing the level of secrecy of that information.
The response submitted to the editorial office states that they conducted an "internal procedure to collect relevant data regarding the officer in question" and took certain actions, without specifying what those actions were.
The National Security Agency (ANB) has not suspended its operative, "Vijesti" was told unofficially by the secret police, and this was confirmed in the explanation that the Agency sent to the legal representative of the wife of the operative V. Đ. It states that he has not been suspended because, as they stated, his presence at work "does not harm the interests of the National Security Agency."
The Law on the National Security Agency states that "in addition to serious disciplinary offenses established by the law regulating the position of civil servants and state employees and the law regulating the position of police officers, a serious disciplinary offense is behavior that harms the reputation of the Agency; performing other tasks or activities without prior approval of the Agency's director; handling official weapons contrary to the regulations governing the possession, carrying and handling of official weapons by Agency employees and publicly disclosing information about the Agency or from the scope of work of the Agency, without prior approval of the Agency's director."
The disciplinary measure for a minor disciplinary offense is a fine of up to 15 percent of the salary paid for the month in which the offense was committed, and for a more serious disciplinary offense, the employee is terminated from employment or a fine of 20 to 30 percent of the salary.
Disciplinary measures for disciplinary violations, upon the proposal of the disciplinary commission, are imposed by the Director of the Agency, and in this procedure, as stated in the Law, "the public is excluded".
The Agency is obliged to submit information on officials against whom disciplinary proceedings have been conducted in a separate section of its annual report to the competent working body of the Parliament that exercises parliamentary control over the National Security Agency.
Marija Popović Kalezić, the executive director of CEGAS, says that the ANB is obliged to respond to whether disciplinary proceedings are being conducted and the number of proceedings being conducted, but it can limit its entry into the merits of the case until the case itself is concluded or a final decision is made, about which it must again inform the public about its actions, because it is in the public's overriding interest to know, rather than the Agency's interest to keep that information or declare it internal.
"The public's interest in knowing is more important, because these are highly socially dangerous behaviors that can have broader negative implications for social values. In the event that a person is found guilty through a final decision, and that the sentence includes a prison sentence of more than six months, it may happen that by hiding information, we do not receive the consequences of dismissal from work or termination of the employment contract, as an unworthy performance of civil service," explains Popović Kalezić.
She believes that this does not protect the Agency or the public interest. This, the executive director of CEGAS points out, is mostly detrimental to the affirmation of the professional conduct and work of the Agency's employees, as well as their understanding of the public and national interest.
Remove secrecy
"Why the number of disciplinary proceedings is secret, as well as whether a disciplinary proceeding is being conducted against a particular official, has no elementary legal basis, and in accordance with the Law, the possibility of lifting the level of secrecy in that part should be examined. This raises the question of expediency, because it is not clear what is being protected by placing a certain level of secrecy on the data," emphasizes Marija Popović Kalezić, Executive Director of CEGAS.
Bonus video:
