Protector of the state or friends

Message from the President of the State and leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists Milo Đukanović special to the prosecutors that they will respond if the proceedings against the former members of the Board of Directors of Plantaž and the former President of the Supreme Court Vesne Medenica do not result in final convictions, is a form of threat and inappropriate pressure, according to the interlocutors of Vijesti.

"The statement is probably motivated by the desire to protect close friends and associates, who are deprived of their freedom, and perhaps the president has an aspiration to protect himself," the director of the Action for Human Rights (HRA) told the News. Tea Gorjanc Prelevic.

Đukanović on Tuesday, two days after his business partner was arrested Veselin Vukotić, said that individuals from the government are trying to present themselves as uncompromising fighters against crime and corruption, alluding to GP URA officials who welcomed the arrest of the former leaders of Plantaž, and earlier of Mednica.

In this context, he said that prosecutors should be professional and the judiciary should be independent. He added that "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." However, his reaction was absent in cases of indictments for war crimes, as well as for criminal acts of high corruption.

..."And what will happen if it turns out that these people are innocent? Will someone in our public finally ask that question?", asked, among other things, this time the president of the state, stating that he is speaking from that position.

As a citizen, as he explained, he said that he did not believe that those arrested in the case of Plantaž damaged that company, praising, among other things, some of them, while he also confirmed about Vukotić that his friend and business associate who, he explained, had a good idea.

After the arrest of Medenica, Đukanović also appealed to respect the presumption of innocence and the right, as he said, to a dignified defense. He also said that he is a longtime friend of the former president of the Supreme Court.

HRA director Tea Gorjanc Prelevic says that Đukanović's statement represents inappropriate pressure on the state prosecutors, because the warning to the prosecutors was sent by the president of the state, who, as she reminded, is also the president of the single most powerful political party.

"The statement, which can be reduced to 'how dare you' and 'be careful if the court does not establish responsibility', is a form of threat," said Gorjanc Prelevic.

Attorney Veselin Radulović he told "Vijesti" that the responsibility of state prosecutors cannot be announced or initiated by public officials, including the president.

"It is not in dispute that, as Mr. Đukanović says, the work of the prosecution should be subject to public scrutiny and critical judgment. However, the president of the state cannot control the work of the prosecutor's office or initiate it, and especially he cannot send messages that the state prosecutors who act in a case in which his friends are accused will be held accountable if a final conviction is not passed," said Radulović.

He believes that such statements can be understood as a threat, taking into account the institutional and factual power that Đukanović has had in Montenegro for decades. "Such behavior is inappropriate pressure on the state prosecutor's office and as such threatens the public interest," said Radulović.

Vesna Medenica was arrested on April 18 on charges of creating a criminal organization and unlawful influence.

Members of the former Board of Directors of "Plantaž" Veselin Vukotić, Bozo Mihailović, Djordje Rajković, Sead Shahman, Dusko Perovic i Anica Hajduković were arrested on Monday for alleged fraud in the briquette factory business. After the hearing, Hajduković was released to defend herself, and the others were detained for up to 72 hours.

Veselin Radulović explained that an acquittal verdict can be a reason for the prosecutor's responsibility only in the event that such a verdict was reached by omission or abuse of the powers of the state prosecutor.

He reminds that there were also such cases, but the state prosecutors who made "mistakes" were not held accountable. "Nevertheless, the prosecution should be freed from illegal influences, especially now that proceedings have been initiated against some persons who were considered untouchable until recently. In the case of omissions, errors or abuses, state prosecutors must be held accountable, but the president of the state should not deal with this, nor should this responsibility depend on his position or on whether a criminal proceeding has been initiated against a person who is his friend", said Radulović.

As he says, he hopes that these or similar statements will not affect the actions of the SDT and that it will undertake criminal prosecution against any person who is reasonably suspected of having committed a criminal offense for which criminal prosecution is undertaken ex officio.

"The impression is that until now this was not always the case and that there were individuals who were untouchable. When we talk about the responsibility of state prosecutors, the subject of control should be those who did not perform official duties in those cases, and not those who are now initiating criminal proceedings," said Radulović.

Minister of Justice Marko Kovač two days ago, he appealed to everyone, especially the highest representatives of state institutions, to refrain from statements that could be interpreted as pressure on the work of the state prosecutor's office or the judiciary. "The statement of the President of Montenegro, as he himself said, may be heresy in the public, but what is much more important is that it can be considered an inappropriate influence on the work of the SDT and the judiciary," Kovač wrote on Twitter.

The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption established in January 2021 that he is the former Minister of Justice Vladimir Leposavic violated the public interest and exerted illegal influence on the judiciary, after he said in December 2020 that the "coup d'état" procedure was a legal scandal, that it was "ripe for repetition" and that there was a possibility of an institutional response, alluding to the adoption of the amnesty law.

The return of the DPS could lead to impartial trials for high corruption

"The fact is that the otherwise weak trust in the Montenegrin judiciary has been thoroughly shaken, for good reason, because the long-time president of the Supreme Court and the president of the Commercial Court are in custody under such suspicions that their fellow judges had to order and extend their detention, which the prosecutors are only proposed," says the director of HRA.

She says that the re-election of judges is not a solution to restore trust, because it is unconstitutional since the function of judges is permanent.

"However, I think that additional property checks of all judges and security checks (so-called vetting) are a necessary process to ensure that corruption cases, especially at the top, are judged without suspicion of bias. Also, the return to power of the DPS, whose president in the meantime acts as a lawyer for the defendants, could only worsen the atmosphere in which these trials would take place," said Gorjanc Prelevic.