The public appearance and claims of the Director of the Police Directorate, Lazar Šćepanović, that members of criminal groups were taken out of the Directorate for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions, were reacted to by lawyer Veselin Radulović, who submitted an amendment to the initiative for the Ethics Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to investigate whether the statements of the police chief are in contradiction with the Code of Police Ethics, and whether there are grounds for initiating proceedings.
Last week, Radulović submitted an initiative to the Ethics Committee to provide an opinion on whether Šćepanović's public appearances before the parliamentary committee for security and defense and his subsequent reaction to the statement by the NGO Action for Human Rights are in violation of the Code of Police Ethics.
The Director of the Police Department is a public official and is accountable for his work to the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Government, and the Parliamentary Committee for Security.
"It is particularly problematic that the Director of the Police stated that he 'cannot go into details' due to the confidentiality of the data, while at the same time publicly making serious accusations that, in themselves, indicate the possible existence of serious criminal offenses, abuse of official position and serious systemic failures in the work of state bodies. Such conduct represents an obvious contradiction and indicates irresponsible and unethical use of the public platform, without respecting the basic principles of legality and professional responsibility," the lawyer states.
In his initiative, he suggests that by presenting unconfirmed information, the Director of the Police Department acted contrary to Article 9, paragraph 3 of the Code of Police Ethics, which explicitly stipulates that a police officer, in public appearances in which he does not represent the Police, may not present information from the scope of the Police or his workplace that may damage the reputation of the Police and the trust of citizens in its work.
"Serious and sensational accusations about the alleged organized removal of prisoners, their arming and the abuse of the institution of conditional release undoubtedly damage the reputation of the Police and other institutions of the system, as well as citizens' trust in the rule of law. Additionally, the claim that conditional releases are timed" during police operations is a particularly unfounded and misleading claim, bearing in mind that the institution of conditional release is precisely and strictly regulated by law, and that the right to conditional release is acquired exclusively by fulfilling the conditions prescribed by law in the procedure prescribed by law, and that conditional release is decided by the court, without any possibility of arbitrary timing or granting at the discretion of individuals. By making such claims, the Director of the Police calls into question the legality of the work of the courts, the Directorate for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions and other competent authorities, without any factual or legal basis," Radulović states.
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He emphasized in the initiative that a particularly aggravating circumstance is the fact that the director of the Police Department, as he writes, easily made claims that, if true, would constitute grounds for urgent action by the competent prosecutor's office, did not inform the competent state prosecutor's office, nor did he initiate any investigation, even though this is his clear official and legal obligation.
"Instead of institutional and legal action, he chose to publicly make accusations without evidence, which further compromises the principle of the rule of law and the professional role of the Police," the statement to the Ethics Committee reads.
In the absence of any initiative towards the competent prosecutor's office, as the lawyer states, the director of the UP "failed to act in accordance with his basic official obligation, so this is not only an ethical violation, but also institutionally dangerous behavior, because it creates a precedent that information about possible serious crimes is not processed through the competent institutions, but is used in public and political appearances, without any legal responsibility."
"It is particularly important to emphasize that in this specific case, the Police Director did not act as an official representative of the Police in terms of expressing institutional positions, but rather acted within the framework of a parliamentary debate on giving an opinion for his election to the position of Police Director. In this context, making serious, unconfirmed and undocumented accusations before the legislative chamber represents an additional problematic behavior, because the Parliament of Montenegro, as the highest legislative body, is being suggested alleged illegalities and abuses without any formal process, evidence or prior contact with the competent authorities. Such behavior creates the impression that serious accusations are being used as a means of personal promotion and strengthening one's own position in the election process, instead of being the subject of urgent and responsible institutional action. This not only undermines the confidence of MPs in the truthfulness and reliability of the information presented, but also directly undermines the principle of the separation of powers and the rule of law," Radulović states.
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