Lawyer Damir Lekić said that it is not true that he tried to forcefully enter the premises of the Basic Court in Podgorica, nor that he behaved in any way insolently or arrogantly.
"On the contrary. Here, this union is trying to provide protection and justification for the actions of one of its strikers, as well as for a police officer who did not do his job for some reason, by deliberately changing the thesis," Lekić said, in relation to today's allegations by the president of the Judicial Union, Dejan Đukić.
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Lekić points out that he was one of the first lawyers to support the strike of court employees, on October 6, the day the strike began.
"As a person who strongly supports the strike, because I myself was employed in the court for almost seven years, at the Basic Court in Podgorica, when I faced extremely poor and difficult working conditions and extremely poor and humiliatingly low wages, I am particularly sensitive, cautious and considerate towards this topic, the strikers and their demands, which are justified in every way," says the lawyer.
"However, that is not actually the issue and the problem here is not in violating the strike rules, as is being unfoundedly attempted to present, in any sense, but rather the protection and concealment of the improper and illegal conduct of a certain striker and the inaction and failure to act of a certain police officer who witnessed everything and did not react or take action in a timely manner, and everything was filmed and recorded on video surveillance from security cameras located on site," he adds.
Lekić points out that, since the strike began, he has been in the courts every day due to his work, mainly in the High Court in Podgorica and the Basic Court in Podgorica, "even during periods of suspension of work by individual striking judges."
"In a few rare situations, some trials were even held during that time (defendant Katnić and others) and it was not prescribed anywhere, nor was any notice given verbally or in writing, that court premises could not be entered during this one-hour suspension of work by individual judges. It should be noted that judges are not on strike, and we lawyers and citizens have hearings scheduled even earlier during this period, so whether we like it or not, we still have an obligation to appear at those scheduled times and during this suspension of work, because often we cannot have information about what will happen with that trial, or whether or not it will take place. The judge in charge and the court as an institution are the ones in charge, no one else," he points out.
Lekić says that it is "completely new" for him that one cannot enter the court building during a one-hour suspension of work.
"And not only because I had previously been constantly entering during that time due to various obligations and not only because I had just left the building of the Higher Court in Podgorica, where I was directly located during this one-hour work stoppage, and came in front of the building of the Basic Court in Podgorica, but also because in this specific case there is no legal basis at all on the basis of which the strikers could prohibit anyone from entering the court building, except illegally."
He also said that the court "is not their private property."
"So, we have to appear in the courtroom, we have to pass by the strikers, and then upon entering the courtroom, the judges inform us whether or not the trial is being postponed if its professional staff is on strike. What turned out to be very inappropriate and disgusting on the part of this striker is that I, without any intention of insulting, disturbing or belittling anyone, came to the building of the Basic Court in Podgorica at, imagine, 11:57 a.m., and the work stoppage lasted, imagine, until 12:00 p.m. and at the first entrance to the Basic Court in Podgorica, one of the strikers 'opened the door' for me, i.e. since the doors are normally open, not locked and closed, I passed by him, greeting him warmly without any problems, only to, after about 5-10 meters, at the second entrance I encountered a problem that I, with due respect, full appreciation, a kind word, warm greetings, words of full support "I tried to resolve the strike, but unfortunately I did not succeed, and even a few times, despite the presence of a police officer on duty, I experienced the use of force in the sense of preventing and prohibiting entry, which is unacceptable and illegal. And what is actually ironic and paradoxical in this specific case, and when considering the previous text of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and this text of the union, is that I was actually the one who insisted that the police be informed about this incident due to the illegal actions of this striker and the inaction of the police officer present, and insisted and persisted in filing that report. So, I am the one who filed it," Lekić said.
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