Member of the Presidency and deputy of the Democratic Front, Nebojša Medojević, announced a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, due to the prison sentence imposed on him and his colleague Milan Knežević (DF): "The European Court has already adopted a precise practice that maximally protects the immunity of deputies, especially when it comes to possible retaliation by the executive and judicial authorities against deputies for their political activities," he told "Vijesta".
On June 27, the Administrative Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro will hold an expert discussion on parliamentary immunity, which was contested near the end of last year when these two DF MPs were "put in jail" with a creative interpretation of the Constitution. Although the Constitution specifies that a deputy cannot be arrested unless he is caught committing a criminal offense for which a prison sentence of more than five years is threatened, the Court of Appeal concluded that immunity protects them only while the session lasts and they are in the parliament.
The Constitutional Court refused to accept the appeals of Knežević and Medojević, but launched an initiative to evaluate the constitutionality of the provision of the Criminal Procedure Code, on the basis of which they were sentenced to prison. To date, the US has not made a decision, because it is waiting for the position of the parliament.
"This is a classic example of retaliation by the special state prosecutor Milivoj Katnić for my accusations in the parliament regarding war crimes in Cavtat, corruption with the non-determination of custody of (Miomir) Mugoša, protection of the monopoly of the position of Katnić's godfather, who is the owner of the company "Glosarij"...", Medojević said.
The debate before the Administrative Committee was scheduled at the initiative of the head of the parliamentary club of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Rasko Konjević: "We had a situation with imprisonment, which confused the public and brought into question the meaning of immunity, not only for MPs, but also for the immunity of members of the Government and the President of the State... It is necessary that in one, primarily expert debate, we look at what the Constitution considers to be immunity", Konjević told the "News".
From the expert discussion, as he assessed, it should be concluded whether it is necessary to adopt the Law on Immunity that some other countries have.
The committee session will be attended by Knežević, member of the DF Presidency, Andrija Mandić, as well as members of that part from the Front, who have boycotted it until now.
Knežević told "Vijeci" that he will watch with great interest the statements of the members of the Committee from the ruling coalition, "because if they confirm that the Constitutional Court made the correct decision by suspending the article of the CPC that refers to witnesses, after that we will no longer have witnesses either in investigative or court proceedings".
He pointed out that if they make a decision that it is illegal and unconstitutional to imprison him and Medojević, then both the President of the Appellate Court and the President of the High Court must resign and be held criminally responsible for abuse of office.
"I will remind you that it was the High Court, and the Appellate Court confirmed it, that made the decision that a member of parliament can be ordered to be imprisoned without removing his immunity, and the Court of Appeal further explained that the member's immunity lasts only while he is in the plenary hall, and after that he can be arrested like a beast both in the hall of the Assembly and outside it, as was the case with Medojević," said Knežević. He pointed out that this is why the board meeting is very important, because it will clearly determine whether
are the decisions of the Higher, Appellate and Constitutional Courts in full correlation, "because someone has to bear the responsibility whatever the decision of the Board".
"If they confirm the decision of the Constitutional Court, then Mušika Dujović and Boris Savić must bear the responsibility, and if they confirm the decision of the Appellate and Higher Courts, then the judges of the Constitutional Court must bear the responsibility," said Knežević.
Eminent lawyers, prosecutors and judges are asked for their position
The board invited to the session the president of the Judicial Council Mladen Vukčević, the president of the Prosecutorial Council Ivica Stanković, the president of the Association of Lawyers of Montenegro Branislav Radulović, the president of the Bar Association of Montenegro Zdravko Begović, the dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Montenegro Aneta Spaić. The dean of the Faculty of Legal Sciences of the University of Donja Gorica Zoran Stojanović and the dean of the Faculty of Law of the Mediterranean University Miloš Vukčević, the president of the Constitutional Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro Miodrag Vuković and the president of the Committee for Political System, Judiciary and Administration of the Parliament of Montenegro Željko Aprcović were invited to the committee session.
Members of the Administrative Board from DF are Milutin Đukanović, Branka Bošnjak and Milun Zogović.
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