Following the example of many post-communist countries, Montenegro should publish the register of agents and associates of the secret services from the socialist era and provide free access to anyone who would use the content for educational purposes.
With such a decision, the state would show that it is ready to get rid of the legacy of totalitarianism, and it would send a message to the citizens that the period of ruling with the help of the secret services has become a thing of the past.
Until he decides to take that step, the interlocutors of "Vijesti" believe that state institutions will continue to appear as ideological censors and owners of a part of the past that he believes does not belong to the public.
The recent head of the OSCE in Montenegro worked for the secret police>>>
"The fact that the state alone has a monopoly over this type of document speaks volumes about it," said historian Šerbo Rastoder, who believes that the state is obliged to make every historical document available to the scientific and other interested public.
He also points out that not all secret documents are inaccessible to citizens, but only those that the state thinks should be.
Sherbo Rastoder
"More or less, all the 'secret' documents about the 'unfit' have become public, which further renders the opinion that the state is protecting someone meaningless. On the contrary, that way only opens up space for abuse," adds Rastoder.
Montenegro could serve as an example of a state that has encouraged itself to break with its totalitarian heritage, Slovakia, whose state Institute for National Memory publishes a register of agents and collaborators of the Czechoslovak ŠTB.
That state body, established in 2002 by the Law on the National Council of Slovakia, provides access to undisclosed data on the activities of repressive bodies, mostly secret services, for the period from 1939 to 1989.
The recent head of the OSCE mission in Montenegro, Lubomir Kopaj, who became an associate of the service at the age of 21, was also on that list, as well as the former Slovakian ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Miroslav Mojžita.
The Czech Republic has also successfully dealt with the past, while most of the other countries of the former Eastern Bloc have in a certain way and to a certain extent lifted the veil of secrecy from the files kept by the secret police of the communist party.
Unlike those countries, whose communist regimes are considered significantly more rigid than the Yugoslav one, none of the former SFRY countries have fully revealed who were the agents and informants of the infamous OZNA, later UDBA.
According to Democratic Front (DF) deputy Nebojša Medojević, Montenegro should also follow the steps seen in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc because they represent an essential part of the process of ending the dangerous practice of abuse of public services by the ruling parties.
"Even after 24 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Montenegro has not taken a single step towards the separation of the state and the parties in power. We still operate in a system based on massive abuse of these services and violations of basic human rights of a huge number of citizens," Medojević said. I will state that the publication of the names of secret service agents and informants would significantly contribute to the creation of a democratic society in which the security services will function in accordance with the Constitution and laws.
To deal with the legacy of totalitarian systems, Medojević believes, political will is necessary, for which a change of government is necessary.
"It is necessary to immediately disband the ANB and form a Commission that would deal with investigations into violations of human rights, laws and the Constitution of the country and that, based on the collected data, would submit criminal charges to the VDT against the officials who are responsible for these serious crimes, and form a professional a new service for national security," said Medojević, who is a member of the Parliamentary Security Committee.
Although Montenegro has a small population, the publication of these data, according to the interlocutor of "Vijesti", should not cause violent reactions
Medojević also believes that files that were collected in a legal way and that relate to real threats to national security should be kept secret until the conditions for their publication are met, as historical materials.
And Rastoder believes that the law should protect anyone who might suffer consequences due to the publication of secret files.
Previously, he adds, expert commissions would have to be formed, which would do a comprehensive analysis of the historical context and which would be interested in the problem, not the individual.
"At the same time, it should be borne in mind that in different historical contexts the same phenomena have completely different meanings", adds Rastoder.
On this occasion, "Vijesti" also contacted representatives of the DPS in the Security Committee, however, MP Obrad Stanišić did not want to speak yesterday, while the president of this parliamentary body, Mevludin Nuhodžić, did not respond to calls from the newsroom.
Wrong logic that files should not be published because we are a small society
Although Montenegro has a small population, the publication of these data, according to the interviewee of "Vijesti", should not cause violent reactions.
According to "Vijesti" information, the State Archive of Montenegro only has party files from the time of communism
"Only those who want freedom and democracy as a way of life can accept this type of 'therapy', while those who subordinate force and power to it will resist precisely with the argument that in Montenegro 'everyone knows everyone,'" believes Rastoder.
He points out that there is a real and real danger of misuse of that data, but also that it decreases if the number of those who know what only some think they know increases.
"So, the problem is not in that, but in the ability to use data for knowledge, not disqualification. And such data are always scarce. I will be interested in the personal files of only a small number of 'working' people", he says and wonders where the logic leads that in small companies every document about associates and agents should be made inaccessible.
The state archive has party documents
According to "Vijesti" information, the State Archive of Montenegro only has party files from the time of communism. Citizens can use this data if they need it to exercise some other rights, such as the return of confiscated property, but for this they must have the approval of the State Archives.
The Law on Archival Materials adopted by our Parliament three years ago regulates the use of archival materials containing data related to security and defense affairs, foreign, monetary and economic policies, the publication of which could have harmful consequences for the public interest or security of Montenegro.
This registration and archival material is available for use after 50 years from its creation, unless otherwise determined by a special regulation.
"Archival material containing personal data is available for use after 70 years from its creation and at least 20 years from the death of the person to whom it relates. Exceptionally, archival material can be used even before the expiration of the time limits, if the person to whom it is referred to agrees. property relations, i.e. his spouse, children or parents after his death," this law states.
Zeković: Many records were destroyed
Aleksandar Zeković, a member of the Council for Citizen Control of Police Work, believes that the past time has suppressed the space for lustration, when it comes to political victims of the socialist past, but also for advocating such changes.
"That process is no longer possible with us. We update it from time to time, but without serious progress. I am also afraid of additional politicization. Instead of social needs, it could be accompanied by sensationalism and revanchism towards those whom you cannot do anything through regular democratic means", said Zeković.
Bearing in mind the current social circumstances, Zeković believes that the adoption of such regulations would be more of a new source of national divisions than a democratic step forward. He, from the practice of investigating human rights violations, also claims that numerous files have been cleaned.
"A significant number of citizens, still alive today, who were evidently dissidents, for whom the republican and federal party committees sat, who were forbidden to work with young people, for example, or to carry out scientific or cultural activities, whose books were taken into account and their circulation confiscated, after of the supposed fall of socialism, it was reported that no records of any kind were kept about them. That speaks volumes. It is clear that these are serious strategists who did not leave this matter to chance", he states.
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