The "Telekom" case is still legally possible for prosecution, because the statute of limitations for permanent acts begins from the cessation of influencing the judiciary, claims Europe Now Movement (PES) MP Dane Marković.
"The corruption case in the privatization of Telekom Montenegro remains an open legal and political issue. Let us recall: the buyer, the Hungarian company Magyar Telekom (part of the Deutsche Telekom group), de facto admitted liability before a court in the United States in 2011, when it paid a fine and damages totaling approximately 95 million US dollars to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice, precisely because of corrupt actions during the acquisition in Montenegro and Macedonia. However, this case never reached a court conclusion in Montenegro," he said.
He claims that it is not true that the case is time-barred.
"After the act of accepting a bribe, there were continuous acts of abuse of official position and political influence, the aim of which was to ensure that the case never came before a Montenegrin court. This means that this is not just corruption from 2005, but an ongoing criminal offense of obstruction of justice, which lasted as long as there was political pressure on the prosecution and other institutions," he said.
According to the Criminal Code of Montenegro, Marković says, for ongoing offenses, the statute of limitations does not begin to run from the date of the initial act, but from the date the last act was committed.
"So, if the political pressure lasted at least until 2020, the statute of limitations only begins to run from then on. Even if we ignore the initial bribe, there are independent criminal acts that occurred years later and that have their own statute of limitations: money laundering, if the bribe or its benefits were later transferred, hidden or 'justified' through other transactions; forgery or destruction of official documents; abuse of official position; unlawful influence; association for the purpose of committing criminal acts," the PES MP adds.
For each of these acts, as he said, the statute of limitations is calculated from the moment of the last act.
"If they were committed after 2015, 2018, 2020, then there is no statute of limitations until at least 2026, and for some acts even longer, until 2030 and even 2040. It is not true that the Telekom case in Montenegro is completely statute-barred. It is still legally possible to prosecute, because the statute of limitations for permanent acts begins from the cessation of influencing the judiciary, while a number of criminal acts committed after privatization have their own statute of limitations that have not yet expired. Therefore, there is room in 2025 to open proceedings against those responsible, which is not only a political and moral, but also a legal responsibility," the statement reads.
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