The President of Montenegro and the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Milo Đukanović, threatened the prosecutors that they will respond if the possible indictments against the former President of the Supreme Court Vesna Medenica and the former management of "Plantaž" are not confirmed by the courts with convictions.
"Provided that these cases receive an appropriate epilogue from the perspective of the prosecution's expectations, that is, that they receive guilty verdicts, then those people who initiated this should be congratulated, said 'you have shown that you are worthy of the positions you hold'. But, let me say something that will be commented on as heresy. No one's work in Montenegro, especially no one's performance of state affairs, must not pass without the scrutiny and critical judgment of the public. And what will happen if it turns out that these people are innocent? Will someone finally reveal himself to our public ask that? Will the media in Montenegro open up that issue. If they don't open it up, I want to announce to them that I will open it up, and that I will make waves in the same way that the independent media are making waves now," Đukanović pointed out in the interview Television of Montenegro (TVCG).
Medenica was arrested on April 18 on charges of creating a criminal organization and illegal influence.
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Six members of the former Board of Directors of "Plantaža" - Veselin Vukotić, Božo Mihailović, Đorđije Rajković, Sead Šahman, Duško Perović and Anica Hajduković were arrested yesterday in the action of "Plantaža" due to alleged fraud in the business with the briquette factory.
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After the hearing, special prosecutor Vukas Radonjić released Hajduković to defend himself, and Vukotić, Šahman, Mihailović, Perović and Rajković were detained for up to 72 hours.
In response to the host's statement that the court proceedings are ongoing, and the question of whether this means that you will be in politics then, Đukanović said that it is very likely that you will be, and that he has a certain authority in this society, even if he did not hold public office.
"The one who lightly decided to call into question the moral character of someone who was the holder of judicial power for so long or who was only the president of the Commercial Court, the one who dared to do so without sufficient reliable suspicion to initiate these processes cannot count on future can perform those tasks. And I believe that in the further development of the legal system and democratic responsibility, the question of criminal responsibility for such actions will also be brought up."
When the host told him that those arrested in the "Plantaža" case were suspected of causing damage to their company in the amount of 350.000 euros and nearly 30 square meters of land by settling with Oleg Obradović and Miodrag Ivanović, Đukanović said that he did not expect him to comment on the details of the case. .
"I believe that not only am I not informed enough, but even if I were the best informed, it would be wrong for me to comment on a specific case. As you said, the case is at the very beginning, we will see if it will result in an indictment, if there will be a trial. an investigation is underway. Let's let the public learn about the specific details through prosecutorial and court proceedings. I just had the need to comment on something that represents bad media and political practice in Montenegro, a practice that is pretentious and tries to create pressure on state authorities, in in this case to the prosecution and the judiciary in order to obtain the desired judicial epilogues. This is something that does not speak in favor of the results that Montenegro wants to achieve in terms of its democratic and European development," said Đukanović.
He said that everyone who has a well-founded suspicion that they mercilessly raise questions of criminal responsibility against any individual are right, but that those who do so without sufficient grounds and who leave us with suspicion (of revanchism) are doing so as part of an obligation to some political structure in Montenegro, they cannot have and do not have the credibility to deal with state affairs in Montenegro.
"They must also be subject to control, including the legality of their work if it turns out that they worked unprofessionally and caused serious damage to the international reputation of Montenegro," said Đukanović.
"Today, the perception among the international public is that the judicial authorities in Montenegro worked illegally, that they worked through some corrupt arrangements. If that is true - I am proud, all respect for those who initiated that process. But if not, we will not forget the team that have done it," said the President of Montenegro.
He added that he often had the opportunity to hear comments from people from his political environment that it is not a particular problem to make a sacrifice by arresting and convicting a couple of people in order to confirm Montenegro as a state governed by the rule of law.
"My question is whoever is asking us. Is someone asking us to sacrifice people in order to become part of Europe? If someone is asking and I don't know that they are asking, I would never agree to such a request. Another question for those who they propose, do you agree to be sacrificed and do you agree to someone close to you from your family making that sacrifice for the sake of the democratic and European development of Montenegro? I believe that European officials would be rightly angry at this interpretation of European politics in this region. I don't think Europe expects that from us. I'm afraid that it's a freakish, non-European, typically Balkan practice where people who lack any ability to engage in serious politics, and who are very ambitious, very aware of their deficits, try to compensate for those deficits by which will present themselves as uncompromising fighters against criminals and corruption," said Đukanović.
I hope it is not about revanchism
Commenting on the arrest of the former members of the Board of Directors of the Podgorica company "Plantaže", he said that he hoped that it was not a question of revanchism due to the announcement by DPS that it would withhold support from the current government.
He said that he knows those detained, that he is friends with some of them, and that he will need a lot of arguments to believe that they broke the law and worked against the interests of the company.
He said that one of the suspects, Đorđije Rajković, was the savior of "Plantaž".
"On the test is the independence and professionalism of the prosecution and the independence of the judiciary, which must show that it is mature and that it is able to protect Montenegro and its democratic development from media and political rape by people who believe that their media and political importance allows them to this is how they deal with dissenters," said Đukanović.
He said that on the Montenegrin political scene there are political structures that think that when they come to power they have the right to determine the fate of people, as well as that they think that they have the right to threaten the rule of law and human rights and freedoms.
He said that there are such people in mature democracies, but that they are not part of the government there.
"In Montenegro, such people can become part of the government, that is why it is important that Montenegro has a barrier to such political intentions. The barrier to such intentions must be an independent prosecution and an independent judiciary. The real question for all of us is whether our prosecution and judiciary are at that level professionalism, independence and independence to resist those spins that are launched from various media and political centers in Montenegro. I sincerely hope that in this and other cases, through professional action, the prosecution and the judiciary will show that the chase that is launched against political dissidents has no foothold in the system," Djukanovic said.
"I was the Prime Minister and I helped Plantaže to survive and develop in the first years of the transition, when socialist enterprises were falling like bundles, but nothing would have been enough if we didn't have such a director at that moment," Đukanović pointed out.
He said that Đorđije Rajković is a man who, in a society where gratitude is cherished, a monument should be erected during his lifetime in the middle of "Plantaž", because, as she said, he is responsible for the company's existence.
He emphasized that Veselin Vukotić and Božo Mihailović are university professors.
"One of them is the founder of the university (UDG) who contributed to the affirmation of Montenegrin higher education on the international stage. Both of them did responsible state jobs," Đukanović pointed out.
The sister of Milo Đukanović, lawyer Ana Đukanović, who was one of the representatives of "Plantaž" in the dispute against the company OMP inženjering, also spoke about the case of "Plantaže" due to the briquette factory that never worked.
Ana Đukanović did not want to comment on the arrests, reminding that no one consulted her for settlement with the company in the dispute, which is why she canceled her power of attorney.
If no settlement had been reached, Ana Đukanoviće believes that the proceedings would have ended positively for "Plantaže".
"I don't know how the court would decide, I can assume based on the facts in the case that the verdict should be different in my deep conviction," said Đukanović.
Since it is an area and a subject that, as he says, he knows best, for TVCG pointed out that it will be available to the authorities.
"If someone from the competent authorities is interested in something that I know or something factual that I can clarify, I am available, and I say that I would not comment on anything beyond this," said Ana Đukanović.
We are assured that the Basic Agreement will not be voted on at the Government session
Đukanović also said that all the parties in the current Government arrangement were assured that at the last session of the Government there would be no vote on the Fundamental Agreement with the SPC (Serbian Orthodox Church), but that the discussion would only be opened.
"That led us to the conclusion that the prime minister accepted the suggestions," said Đukanović.
When asked if this means that Prime Minister Dritan Abazović deceived them, Đukanović said that he said at the meeting that there would be an open discussion and that the Government would not comment on that act. He pointed out that the Government abandoned the agreement by prioritizing the conclusion of the contract with the SPC in relation to something that was defined by the agreement as priorities during the formation of the government, which is, first of all, dealing with affairs from the European agenda. On July 8, the Government officially announced that it had adopted the Proposal for a harmonized text of the Basic Agreement between Montenegro and the SPC.
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Abuse of the story of the fight against crime and corruption
The Montenegrin president assessed that the story of the fight against crime and corruption is being heavily misused.
When I hear someone who is coming to a responsible position in the state or company that his first message is "You don't know what I found", I know that it is of no use, because he has no vision of what he should do. He decided to cover his handicaps so that he will settle with his predecessors," said Đukanović.
That is how the new government, as he stated, instead of presenting the vision of the development of Montenegro, is revanchistically reckoning with its predecessors.
"I guess that's why it's not surprising that the performance in these two years is zero," Đukanović said.
He said that the new government did not have the opportunity, although it wished, to bring him to the dock.
"That's why the idea now is to create as many other cases as possible, always with the same question: "It couldn't have been done without Milo". It's just heavy stupidity," said Djukanovic.
He did not talk to Medenica about any court case
Đukanović said that due to the nature of his work and the functions he performed, he cooperated with the arrested former president of the Supreme Court, Vesna Medenica, but that it did not occur to him to interfere in anyone's business and discuss a court case.
"I am a man who, despite the image that my critics want to create, believes in the need for the institutional development of Montenegro. I believe that the development of independent institutions is a guarantee of the survival and duration of Montenegro, and therefore I do not want to endanger the professional functioning of any institutions," Djukanovic said.
When asked if he ever suspected that Medenica was doing something illegal, he said that he had no basis for it.
"Someone who does something illegal does not run to inform the president that he did something bad," Djukanovic added.
As he pointed out, the key message is that it has not yet been established that something illegal was done.
"A part of the public is running to make these people guilty and to judge them. These people are already tarnished, the moral dignity of their families is at risk, not to mention that any further involvement in state bodies is at risk," the president said, adding that in the event that the prosecution's claims are proven, the people who started all this should be congratulated.
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