Last year, the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Security reduced itself to serving the Government and essentially did almost nothing in the direction of controlling the legality of the work of the security services.
This is how the report presented yesterday by the "Institute of Alternatives" on the work of the Committee in 2018 can be briefly summarized, the reason for which was eight years after the adoption of the Law on Parliamentary Oversight.
It states that the board has not controlled the secret surveillance measures applied by ANB since 2010 and the Police Directorate since 2012, that it has not controlled ANB on premises since 2010, although it is one of the few supervisory bodies that can do so. It is added that he did not deal with the problems of police torture, torture and ill-treatment, nor did he ever deal with the situation in the prison system. Also, he did not consider any non-paper, nor the report of the Government or the European Commission on Chapters 23 and 241 in connection with the security sector, and he never dealt with any anti-corruption policy.
"The board was not interested even when their member Nebojša Medojević was unconstitutionally "put in prison"," are some of the conclusions of the IA presented yesterday by Dina Bajramspahić, a public policy researcher at the "Institute of Alternatives".
The president of the Processing Committee, Mišo Stanišić, claims, however, that the body did an excellent job and fully fulfilled the agenda it had planned "and more than that."
"He had control and consultative hearings and made conclusions. The committee worked in accordance with the Law on Parliamentary Oversight in the Field of Security and Defense," Stanišić told "Vijesta".
Bajramaspahić assessed that "parliamentary supervision has reached a stage of stagnation and "routine" consideration of materials coming from the Government, while the members of the Security and Defense Committee have neglected the opportunity to take an interest in important issues of the security sector themselves."
Commenting on the Institute's allegations that the Board could have held more hearings, Stanišić said that "it is not a branch of any non-governmental organization": "We work in accordance with the Law on Parliamentary Control in the Field of Security and Defense and in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly. Therefore, we are not a branch of any non-governmental organization, not even of the 'Institute of Alternatives,'" said the Chairman of the Board.
The report reminds that the opposition did not participate in the work of that body. The former member of the board, whom the ruling coalition did not want to elect as deputy president for the second time, Nebojša Medojević (DF), reminds that he has a "special constitutional position as an institution of democratic control of the security services".
3 board sessions were held at the initiative of the members, and 16 at the proposal of the Government, so IA states that the executive power dictates the dynamics of the work of the parliamentary body. "Parliamentary supervision has reached the stage of routine consideration of material from the Government", it is stated
"By definition, it is the classic control mechanism of the Assembly and it should be led by someone from the opposition because the opposition also has a strong political interest in preventing abuses of the security services by the Government and the ruling majority. The committee was precisely building its institutional position and its own importance and influence through the initiatives of the opposition. We initiated many control and consultative hearings where we very successfully exposed the unprofessional, illegal and unconstitutional actions of the services. The issues of the role of the security services and cigarette smuggling, transnational drug smuggling, wiretapping of embassies of NATO member countries, raising the combat alert of the Army of Montenegro on the day of the DF protest on October 24.10.2015, XNUMX, the infiltration of a former intelligence officer of the VBO and VOS of the FRY Army with strong ties to Russian security services in the Army of Montenegro, illegal eavesdropping of the opposition and critics of the regime, black funds of ANB, the "Listing" affair due to which the directors of ANB, the police and the prime minister were dismissed, and many others," Medojević told "Vijesti".
Nebojsa MedojevicHe reminds that the boycott of the opposition after the "fake coup d'état on election day 16.10.2016/XNUMX/XNUMX also meant the absence of the control function of the parliament, so it can be stated that there was no democratic control of the security services during that period."
In the recommendations of the IA, it is proposed to avoid the practice of combining discussions on different reports, to appoint a deputy chairman of the Committee from among the opposition as soon as possible, to cooperate with independent institutions, such as the ombudsman.
"I was kidnapped because I was doing my job"
"Everything became clear when, as a member of the Committee, I was 'put in jail' by shameful decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal precisely because I was doing my job as a deputy and a member of the Committee and had contacts with sources from the security services who had confidence in me that I would publicly present information and knowledge about the connections between the mafia and the security services, prosecutor's office and courts. I was kidnapped at the behest of the informal power centers because of my persistent public action to destroy the ties between the security services and the mafia. The disclosure of information about the files of the Italian Anti-Mafia Agency and the role of parts of the ANB in the smuggling of narcotics, cocaine bananas, arms smuggling for ISIS, money laundering from Asia through banks in Montenegro, connections with the Albanian mafia in Kosovo and Albania threatened their fabulous mafia profits and one a conspiratorial group from the executive and judiciary decided to take revenge and kidnap me. They expected me to reveal my sources from ANB and they were badly mistaken. I was just doing my job of controlling the services, for which I have double immunity as a deputy and as a member of the Committee," says Medojević.
Bonus video:
