Gazivoda, Vuksanović and Jovović join the Prosecutor's Council?

The Parliament of Montenegro should appoint lawyers from the ranks of prominent lawyers as members of the Prosecutorial Council Siniša Gazivoda, Miloš Vuksanović i Filip Jovovic.

According to the knowledge of "Vijesti", there is agreement on those three candidates from the majority of the members of the ruling parties in the Committee for Political System, Administration and Judiciary, which should determine the proposal of candidates for TS and submit them to the Assembly for a vote. The majority of the parties in power wanted the Assembly session to be held today and the Democrats' position was awaited.

"News" is announced earlier today that the representatives of the parliamentary majority failed to reach an agreement last night regarding the final list of candidates for the members of the Prosecutor's Council from among distinguished lawyers.

The fourth candidate from the ranks of prominent lawyers is disputed by the Democrats, because the Democratic Front asked to be nominated Nikola Bulatović, who was their party lawyer. Bulatović was the defender of one of the leaders of the DF, Andrije Mandić during the "Coup d'état" trial, and represented Slaven Radunović.

According to unofficial information, the candidate Bulatović does not respond to the URA GP either, however, they do not want the Prosecutorial Council not to be elected and changes in the prosecutor's office not to start because of one candidate.

The Democrats announced that no one has the right to use one individual, whatever his name, to blackmail the election of the complete composition of the Prosecutor's Council and to "block the formation of the Prosecutor's Council with his unscrupulous imposition". They said that, not only that they cannot, but that they will never raise their hands for any party's candidate in the Prosecutor's Council and at the head of the State Election Commission (SEC).

"If DF says, we quote: 'Either our party lawyer, Nikola Bulatović, will be a member of the Prosecutor's Council, or there will be no one,' that is a direct violation of the agreement of political actors. If the DF representative says: 'I can't imagine anyone as a member of the Prosecutor's Council, if it is not Nikola Bulatović, because without Nikola Bulatović, the Prosecutor's Council has neither function nor meaning', then it means that they only want to paint the Prosecutor's Council as a party, prevent an agreement and consensus and stop the state on the path of European integration", the head of the Committee for Political System, Administration and Justice pointed out in a joint statement yesterday Momo Koprivica and the head of the Democrat caucus Boris Bogdanović.

Amendments to the State Prosecutor's Office stipulate that the Prosecutor's Council has 11 members. Five members are prosecutors and five prominent lawyers, which includes one representative of an NGO and one representative of the Ministry of Justice.

1 candidates applied for the competition for four positions among distinguished lawyers, which lasted until July 16. They were heard before the Board Marica Babović, Danijela Bulatović, Nikola Bulatović, Nevenka Božović Jovović, Miloš Vuksanović, Siniša Gazivoda, Balša Dragović, Borivoje Đukanović, Maja Zeković, Filip Jovović, Dalibor Kavarić, Elvis Duraković, Nikola Medojević, Zdenka Perović, Jovan Poleksić i Savo Sofranac. Balša Dragović, Nikola Medojević and Zdenka Perović withdrew their candidacies.

The president of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Alternatives applied for a position in TS from the ranks of distinguished lawyers from the civil sector, Stevo Muk and senior legal adviser at the Center for Civic Education (CGO) Snezana Kaluđerović.

Lawyers and representatives of the Ministry of Justice are elected by the Assembly by simple majority. The conference of state prosecutors, where TS members will be elected from among prosecutors, is scheduled for August 3.

Deputies of the SNP and the Democratic Front submitted to the President of the Assembly earlier yesterday To Aleksi Bečić the initiative to hold a parliamentary session today and elect a new Prosecutor's Council.

The SNP and the DF announced that their request fulfilled the condition that 1/3 of the deputies request the convening of the session.

"We remind you that according to Article 85 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Montenegro, there is a possibility to schedule a session within this period. Our request does not prevent the President of the Assembly from proposing other agenda items. It is known that the regular session ends at midnight on July 31st, and that if we missed this deadline, we would not be able to hold the session before August 16th, which would allow the process of obstruction of the old Prosecutorial Council to be completed and new obstacles for changes to be created. in the Prosecutor's Office," the request reads.

The request was signed by SNP MPs Vladimir Jokovic, Dragan Ivanovic, Danijela Đurović, Dragan Vukić i Milosava Paunović, as well as DF MPs Slaven Radunović, Simonida Kordić, Strahinja Bulajić, Jovan Vučurović, Jelena Božović, Radoš Zečević, Milo Božović, Milan Knežević, Milun Zogović, Predrag Bulatović, Maja Vukićević, Dragan Bojović, Vladimir Dobričanin (United Montenegro), Maksim Vučinić (Workers' Party), Dejan Djurovic i Nataša Jevrić.

Yesterday, the URA Civic Movement called on all members of the Assembly to elect candidates for TS without any delay. They announced that the election of the new Prosecutorial Council (PC) by the end of the regular session of the Assembly on July 31 is of crucial importance for the effective fight against organized crime and corruption. The GP URA assessed that anyone who obstructs that election will consciously or unconsciously "give oxygen to organized criminal groups", thereby working directly to the detriment of the interests of the citizens of Montenegro and to the benefit of criminal power centers.

"By electing a new TS by the end of the regular session on July 31, we will meet the deadline prescribed by the new Law on the State Prosecutor's Office and start the most important process of reforming the Montenegrin prosecutor's office, which is the basic prerequisite for delivering concrete results and the much-needed justice in Montenegro. If it occurs to someone to obstruct that election, they will directly work against the European perspective of Montenegro and the closing of Chapters 23 and 24, but also in favor of organized crime", it was announced from GP URA.

The intention of the new government is to change the composition of the TS and pave the way for the removal of the acting VDT Drazen Burić and the dismissal of the Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoj Katnić because the new government is dissatisfied with the results of the work of the Prosecutor's Office, considering that it did its work selectively and that it was under the political influence of the former government.

The proposal for Burić to be VDT submitted to the parliament

Yesterday, the Prosecutor's Council submitted to the Montenegrin Parliament a proposal to elect Dražen Burić as the Supreme State Prosecutor (VDT).

The Council proposed this based on the opinion of the extended session of the VDT on the registered candidates and the interview conducted with them.

In addition to Burić, the legal requirements for the post of VDT were met by a lawyer from Beran, Vladimir Delević, a lawyer from Cetinje, Aleksandar Kovačević, and a judge in the Podgorica High Court, Suzana Mugoša.