Mandić: The Assembly should vote on prosecutorial laws as soon as possible

One of the leaders of the Democratic Front (DF), Andrija Mandić, called on the leadership of the Assembly to as soon as possible rather put on the agenda and to vote on the proposed prosecutorial laws initiated by the DF and supported by the caucuses of the parliamentary majority.

"We call and ask the Assembly, the parliamentary majority of which we are a part, to fulfill what we promised to the citizens, adopt prosecutorial laws and prepare Montenegro for the fight against organized crime and corruption. A little over a month ago, the laws were withdrawn, and we received firm assurances that it will be on the agenda of the Assembly again on March 18 and that the opinion of the Venice Commission (VK) is just a formality," said Mandić at a press conference in the parliament.

He said that in the opinion, the Supreme Court did not state anywhere that the DF's proposals are not in accordance with the Constitution, that they deviate from international practice and what exists in other EU countries.

"I would like to remind you that, for example, in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Slovenia, the prosecution is part of the executive branch, and in some countries only the minister of justice deals with the dismissal of prosecutors. Here, we made the judicial branch the fourth branch of government, which turned out to be very bad solution, we didn't get the product we believed we would get, that the prosecution would do its job as expected, and we noted that and the parliamentary majority prepared the laws," added Mandić.

He said that the DF is particularly concerned about the position of the legislative authority and the Assembly, which does not pass laws on which there is agreement.

"It is not true that this is directed against one man. This is directed against those who do not want to fight against organized crime and corruption, and are charged by law to do that work and do it indiscriminately. And not as it was the case until now with the main special prosecutor that this selection and pressure was exerted on those who until recently were in the opposition, and today, with undiminished ferocity, they are trying to exert pressure on those who make up the parliamentary majority and to serve the President of Montenegro and the leader of the DPS without question" , said Mandic.

He said that they do not allow anyone to influence the sovereignty and decisions of Montenegro.

"If Montenegro is an independent country, if that country has a majority and its own parliament and if that parliament works in accordance with the Constitution, there is no reason for anyone to stop us and create a protectorate from Montenegro, because we do not agree to that. We think we can we conduct politics in the interest of the citizens of Montenegro," said Mandić.

He said that there are two representatives of Montenegro in the VK, former ministers Zoran Pažin and Srđan Darmanović.

"I estimate that people who keep their word will put the laws back on the agenda in the coming days and that we will secure a sufficient number of votes to start the fight against crime and corruption," Mandic said.

One of the leaders of the DF, Milan Knežević, said that they believe that it was not necessary to ask for an advisory opinion of the Supreme Court, because with the constitutional amendments from 2013, it enabled people like the current Acting Supreme State Prosecutor Ivica Stanković and Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoj Katnić to abuse their positions and become the fourth branch of government.

"I would only like this advisory body to watch the video recording of Slavoljub Stijepović taking the envelope from Duško Knežević, and later to read the indictment of Milivoj Katnić, which was designed so that the court panel had to single out Stijepović, who is an adviser state president Milo Đukanović," said Knežević.

He said that what happened yesterday (the opinion of the Supreme Court) does not represent a surprise, nor an obligation because it is an advisory opinion.

"Our colleagues announced that regardless of the opinion of the Supreme Court, we will adopt the prosecution laws in the manner, content and form that we agreed with the Minister of Justice Vladimir Leposavic and with the full knowledge of Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić. There is another problem here, because the Supreme Court opinion directly clashed with the EC", said Knežević.

He reminds that in the EC's new methodology it is written that no chapter can be closed before the criteria for 23 and 24 have been met.

"I ask the Supreme Court how we are going to close chapters 23 and 24 with such a criminalized and corrupt prosecution. How are we going to close chapters 23 and 24 when we have the factual situation that Milivoje Katnić immediately after the annulment of the judgment of the Court of Appeal arrested the husband of Seka Piletić, the judge reporter? How are we going to we have the closure of chapters 23 and 24 when, before February 18, Milivoje Katnić removed the secrecy mark from the secret surveillance measures where he eavesdropped on Aleksa Bečić, Boris Bogdanović, Dragan Krapović for four years?", asked Knežević.

He also reminded that Stanković's mandate expired, and the illegitimate Prosecutor's Council extended his mandate for another year so that he could nominate Katnić again for GST.

"If we start with this procedure proposed by the Supreme Court, believe me it is easier to dismiss the Secretary General of the United Nations than any prosecutor in Montenegro, let alone the chief special prosecutor," Knežević pointed out.

He said that the fact that Pažin and Darmanović are members of the VK best describes what the advisory opinion could have been.

"I am asking the Venice Commission if they will come to prosecute Milutin Simović, Kenan Hrapović and the owner of Glosari, Bor Martinović, because of respirators, who also opened a laboratory where PCR tests are performed," Knežević stated, adding that Martinović, who procured respirators, was Katnić godfather and that Katnic's son works for him.

He said that it is necessary for the Collegium of the President of the Assembly, Alekse Bečić, to return the prosecutorial laws to the procedure as early as tomorrow.

Knežević strongly condemned the attack on TV Vijesti journalist Sead Sadiković in Bijelo Polje.

"It is another proof of what is happening on our streets and the unwillingness of both the police and the prosecutor's office to deal with those who attack journalists, because of the views expressed by the media. Don't be misunderstood, that this happened on our litia, that "If someone from Lithuania beat a journalist or a political opponent, the DF leaders would automatically be arrested," Knežević said.

However, as he added, this is all trying to be presented as a patriotic folklore appeal and calls on Duško Marković and Milo Đukanović to take matters into their own hands.

"If we don't take matters into our own hands and start dealing with organized crime and corruption, believe that this Parliament and the Government of Montenegro will be a ficus, completely unnecessary for the citizens and themselves," said Knežević.

The attack on Sadiković was also condemned by Mandić.

"We have to react as a society and community, and primarily the police and the prosecutor's office so that this never happens again, especially not to media representatives who have the right to report as they see fit. We may like or dislike some editorial policy, but here the generations before us fought to have freedom, and freedom also implies that people express their opinions as they think they should, print them, publish them, sometimes even run propaganda, but this is all an integral part of a free society that we strived for ", said Mandic.

He also condemned the attack on "Vijesti" journalist Jelena Jovanović in Nikšić during the election campaign during the celebration of members of the winning coalition.

"I want to express my regret and condemn all the previous attacks and the injury of the Vijesta journalist in Nikšić, which happened due to a combination of circumstances, but in relation to all events, we should react in the same way," added Mandić.

Mandić said that during yesterday's conversation, he drew the attention of Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić that the reconstruction of the Government should first be discussed by the parliamentary majority, and that is why he initiated the meetings of the presidents of the parties that make up the majority.

He added that for now the most important thing is that the parliamentary majority will thoroughly study the reconstruction.

Knežević, who also met with the prime minister yesterday, said that Krivokapić said that he was ready "to offer us certain vice-presidential positions".

"I refused to be a candidate for those positions because the essence is not in personnel decisions, but the inclusion of the parliamentary majority in the executive power," he pointed out.

He added that now "we have new legality, but there is no need to pretend that we are not from here, because Krivokapić supported the coalition of Alekse Bečić in Nikšić".

He said that it is necessary to solve the parliamentary crisis because at the moment there is no proposal from the Government, the last one was the Proposal for Amendments to the Law on Freedom of Religion.

Mandić repeated that the DF will not vote for any of the Government's proposals until the prosecutorial laws are passed.

"There will be a collegium of the President of the Assembly and there will start the first round of talks between representatives of the majority on overcoming the parliamentary crisis", he said.