The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje has filed an indictment with the Basic Court in that city against the Secretary of the Secretariat for Rural and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje, Armin Sijarić, and the employee Danijela Lazarević, on suspicion of abusing their official position in favor of the company "Imperial", owned by Vojislav Smolović, brother of the Mayor of the Municipality, Petar Smolović.
According to the indictment, the defendants, in their capacity as officials, in the period from 26.02.2024 to 12.07.2024, with the intention of obtaining a benefit for DOO "Imperijal" Bijelo Polje, owned by Vojislav Smolović, brother of the Mayor of the Municipality Petar Smolović, exceeded the limits of their official authority and thereby caused damage and seriously violated the rights of citizens of the "Lozna" Local Community, by conducting an environmental impact assessment procedure without legal authorization regarding the project of surface exploitation of technical - construction stone at the Poda location in Bijelo Polje, for which projects, approvals and environmental protection activities are the responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency.
They are charged with the criminal offense of "abuse of official position".
The Basic State Prosecutor's Office previously opened a case following a criminal complaint filed by the citizens of Srđevac, namely their representative, the NGO Euromost, due to alleged suspicions of criminal acts of negligent performance of duties and abuse of official position.
The complaint followed a series of protests by residents of those villages who claim that the company "Imperial", owned by Vojislav Smolović, illegally obtained concessions and that the Municipality illegally issued a study on the environmental impact assessment.
Sijarić and Lazarević were previously questioned by the ODT as suspects and both claimed that they acted according to the law and did not abuse their official position.
The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption previously determined that in the case of the quarry in Podi, the Commission for the Evaluation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Study was illegally formed.
Euromost: A major victory in the fight for justice in the field of eco-crime
The NGO "Euromost" stated that this is the first major victory in the fight for justice in the field of eco-crime in northern Montenegro and that they expect a second indictment against other persons who illegally issued an environmental impact assessment in the same way, namely the companies, DOO "Bemaks" from Podgorica for the Bioče quarry, and DOO "Konstruktor" from Bijelo Polje for the Zminac quarry, where the municipality of Bijelo Polje was not responsible for conducting the procedure, but the Environmental Protection Agency.
They note that this is the family business of the president of the municipality of Bijelo Polje, Petar Smolović, while the defendant Armin Sijarić is the brother-in-law of the Minister of Regional Investment Development and Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations, Ernad Sijarić, who, together with Smolović, also held the position of president of the Bijelo Polje Municipal Assembly.
According to this organization, they expect that the competent prosecutor's offices in Montenegro will also file indictments against persons at the Institute for Geological Research, who issued these three companies with decisions based on illegal decisions of the Secretariat for Rural and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje, where Euromost has requested the Ministry of Energy and Mining to order mining inspectors to stop the work of the companies Bemaks and Konstruktor on Bioča and Zminac near Bijelo Polje, and to initiate new proceedings at the Environmental Agency with the participation of all citizens.
MZ Lozna: We will not give up the fight
Citizens of the Lozna Local Community also welcomed, as they state, the expected decision of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje and expect the same decision from the Administrative Court of Montenegro, which will annul the illegal decision of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje against which the citizens filed a lawsuit to this court, and the decision is expected this week, as they state.
They say that they will not give up the fight for their rights and the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution of Montenegro to a healthy environment and call on the Ministry of Mining and Energy to revoke the illegal decision of the company "Imperijal" from Bijelo Polje, which was issued to them based on an illegal decision of the Secretariat for Rural and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje.
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