Strasbourg rejected the lawsuit of depositors of the former Jugobanka

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg rejected the lawsuit filed against the Serbian state by foreign currency depositors of the former Belgrade-based Jugobank from Kotor, Tivat and Herceg Novi, announced the president of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Pravda, Momir Čolović. achieved in Montenegro and Serbia, 538 plaintiffs were forced to turn to the Court in Strasbourg seven years ago," said Čolović to the Mina-business agency. He stated that it was a sum of at least 30 million dollars, which should have been received by about thirty thousand distressed depositors, mostly seafarers and their family members. He specified that the aforementioned decision was made by judge David Thor Bjorgvinsson. "I have been informed that such a decision was made after the Court, that is, Bjorgvinson, as a single judge, determined that the admissibility conditions provided for in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms were not met," said Čolović.

He stated that Articles 34 and 35 indicate that before addressing the Court in Strasbourg, all court instances in the country the party comes from must be completed. "However, with such a decision, the Court did not respect the fact that we could not meet the standards by which they work, and thus pass the regular route, because we were limited by the laws that were in force here at the time when we filed the lawsuit against them," explained Čolović. He also said that all the relevant documents they submitted were the basis for making a positive decision. "They had them in their hands. Why they didn't want to apply them will remain unknown, because we were informed that the decision is final and that we cannot be given insight into its detailed reasons, as well as correspondence or insight into any documents related to that case. The files, in accordance with the Court's instructions, will be destroyed one year after the date of the decision," said Čolović. He stated that, although disappointed, he received the decision of the Court in Strasbourg with respect, after which he decided to address the President of the Court, Žan Pol Kosti. "I told him that we contractually kept the money in savings in the state-owned Montenegrin bank, which, with the consent of the Montenegrin government, was merged with the state-owned Serbian Jugobanka Beograd.

The Government of Serbia spent our private money, liquidated the bank and denied the citizens of Montenegro the possibility of paying out what was confiscated, which is contrary to the fundamental norms of the banking system of the world," explained Čolović. He added that the Anglo-Saxon legal practice does not know the Balkan ambiguities, and therefore in the mentioned case it is a question of endangering human rights by the Court in Strasbourg.

I'm not a lawyer, but when, after 35 years of pain and suffering, the state takes away most of what you've acquired, and the International Court of Justice in Strasbourg considers that everything is legal, then I'm doubly disappointed

"To me, that looks like the story when a Montenegrin caught fish with dynamite in Lake Geneva, but the Swiss could not convict him, because their law and jurisprudence do not recognize such a case," said Čolović. He stated that in Strasbourg they tried and passed judgments for citizens from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on the basis of a state of emergency, where it was not possible to comply with Article 35. if everything is according to the law, then I'm doubly disappointed," said Čolović. He added that he would be grateful if Kosta gave him an informal answer.