Radulović: Ombudsman's opinion - Ministry of Interior violated the rights of a Podgorica resident who applied for a police job

Podgorica resident Muamer Matović, who applied for a police officer position at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP), had his right to a reasoned decision, his right to an effective legal remedy and his right to good administration violated, because he was never informed of the reasons why he was declared unfit for security reasons, nor was he given the opportunity to challenge the allegations on which such a decision was based.

Lawyer Veselin Radulović announced that this is stated in the opinion of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms upon the complaint of Matović, on whose behalf he filed one of the criminal charges against Democratic Montenegro and officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Police Administration.

He also submitted to the media a document signed by Deputy Ombudsman Mirjana Radović.

"The Ombudsman is of the opinion that the disputed action violated the complainant's right to a reasoned decision as a segment of the right to a fair trial guaranteed by Article 32 of the Constitution of Montenegro and Article 6, paragraph 1 of the European Convention, as well as the right to a legal remedy guaranteed by Article 20 of the Constitution of Montenegro and Article 13 of the European Convention, and in connection with the right to work under Article 62 of the Constitution of Montenegro, or Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention," the document states.

The Protector therefore, as added by the institution, reiterates the previously given recommendation to the Government - to initiate the procedure for amending the provision of Article 128, paragraph 10 of the Law on Internal Affairs, in a manner that will enable candidates to learn the reasons on the basis of which the existence of security obstacles was determined, and in accordance with the minimum level of protection against arbitrariness inherent in the concept of legality within the meaning of the Convention and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs - Commission for the Verification of Security Disturbances is recommended to inform the complainant of the reasons for the existence of the security disturbance, in accordance with the standards set out in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

It is also recommended that they inform the complainant in the form of an administrative act about the reasons why he did not meet the requirement for employment as a police officer, with clear and sufficient reasons, as well as instructions on the legal remedy, in order to enable him to understand the essential reasons on the basis of which he was not registered and to effectively exercise the right to lodge a legal remedy.

Radulović said that the Ombudsman's opinion in the Muamer Matović case represents an independent institutional confirmation of "serious irregularities" that he has been pointing to for months through multiple criminal charges against responsible persons in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Police Directorate and other participants in the process of implementing the so-called vetting.

"The Ombudsman clearly pointed out that the applicant's right to a reasoned decision, the right to an effective legal remedy and the right to good administration were violated, because he was never informed of the reasons why he was declared unfit for security purposes, nor was he given the opportunity to challenge the allegations on which such a decision was based," the lawyer said.

He says that he pointed out "precisely these illegalities" in all the criminal reports he filed.

"I argued that under the guise of 'vetting', the selection of suitable police officers and the removal of unsuitable ones are actually being carried out, without elementary guarantees of fair procedure and with a gross violation of fundamental human rights. We see that the same model is being applied when hiring new police officers. Candidates are eliminated from the procedure with the meager explanation that they have not passed security checks, while they are not informed of which specific facts constitute an alleged security obstacle, nor are they allowed to dispute the accuracy of such data or prove that they are incorrect," adds Radulović.

Such a system, he said, practically allows unverified operational data, arbitrary assessments, or even politically motivated information to become the basis for deciding someone's professional fate, without any effective judicial or other control.

"If police officers are suspended and job candidates are rejected based on secret and unsubstantiated assessments that they cannot dispute, then this is certainly not a vetting in the sense of establishing a professional and lawful police force. It is a mechanism that enables political control of personnel and the selective removal of those who are not desirable to a political party," he points out.

Radulović notes that vetting implies a check on integrity with full respect for human rights and procedural guarantees. "The party purge we are witnessing implies exactly the opposite – decisions made in advance that are subsequently tried to be justified by referring to alleged security assessments that no one can verify."

Therefore, as he said, the Protector's opinion has a significance that goes beyond the individual case of Muamer Matović: "It raises a serious question of the legality of the entire system by which human resources are managed in the security sector today."

Radulović expects the Special State Prosecutor's Office to evaluate this opinion within the framework of the criminal charges already filed, because it "confirms a serious violation of fundamental human rights, which is a consequence of the criminal offense of abuse of official position."

"This opinion also confirms the existence of serious indications that, under the pretext of protecting security, a practice is being implemented that is incompatible with the Constitution of Montenegro, the European Convention on Human Rights and the basic principles of the rule of law," the lawyer states.

He says that Montenegro needs a professional and legal vetting system that will remove from the police those who are connected to crime or corruption, but exclusively on the basis of the law, verifiable facts and with full respect for human rights. Anything else, he said, represents abuse of the security system for political purposes and seriously undermines citizens' trust in the institutions that should guarantee their security.

"For months, we have been witnessing how those who designed this model of 'vetting' have presented it in public as a historic purge of police personnel linked to crime, even though they are simultaneously implementing it with gross violations of human rights. Such 'vetting' cannot withstand judicial scrutiny, and the consequence of this will be that even those police officers for whom there may be real links to crime or corruption will be reinstated due to the illegal actions of the state. This will confirm that the greatest service to organized crime is being done by those who currently manage the security sector and who, for the sake of political propaganda, claim most loudly that they are fighting it. After independent judicial review, their approach will prove to be the best protection against corruption, not its suppression," the statement reads.