The money that the mafia "injected" into the state through political parties must be reexamined, stopped and confiscated and those responsible prosecuted, no matter what their name is and what function they hold, the interlocutors of "Vijesti" assessed.
They say that the latest "Sky Affair" showed what citizens already knew - that the former government bought elections with money from criminal structures, and, as they claim, criminalized institutions covered up the evidence.
In one of the communications via the encrypted Sky ECC (SKY elliptic-curve cryptography) application, which "Vijesti" published, information emerged that the campaign of the party of the former government was financed from illegal sources, i.e. organized crime.
That's right, as it follows from that information, the arrested former employee of the National Security Agency (ANB) Petar Lazovic in Sky communication with the head of the Kavac clan Radoj Zvicer said in code that the businessman Ranko Ubović just for one election, he "split a couple of millions", and at the persuasion of his father, now a retired police officer Zoran Lazović. The correspondence shows that five days before the election in August 2020, the head of the Kavac clan sends Lazović and Milović a list of safe voters in and out of prison. Milović suggests that everyone make lists and that "Zoran" take it to "Lomi".
The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK), which monitors the financing of political parties and election campaigns, says that the Sky correspondence is within the scope of the prosecution's work.
"After the prosecution assesses whether there is any illegal segment that can be confirmed by evidence in accordance with the Law on Criminal Procedure, we believe that they will initiate appropriate criminal proceedings, which are not within the competence of the Agency", said the KAS. With that, they answered the question of "Vijesti" whether there is a legal basis to order the verification of reports on the financing of election campaigns of DPS and other parties.
"To disappear or reform"
Secretary General of the Democrats Boris Bogdanovic he told "Vijesti" that the result of the election would certainly have been different if this information had surfaced before the public, and drastically different if the competent state authorities had succeeded in stopping even more the penetration of crime and corruption into the institutions of the system.
"But our focus must remain on forming a government as soon as possible and stopping the frenzied activities of the kavak, skaljar or any other clan in the country, and prosecuting all those who harm the state", he said.
Bogdanović says that all parties that were criminally financed must disappear and reform, if they want to be part of society and the state and its institutions.
Vice President of GP URA Milena Vuković-Sekulović he says for "Vijesti" that such information calls into question the legitimacy of the previous elections.
"The captured institutions did not do their job at the moment when they should have done it, and now we can only prevent all future situations," she said.
Vice President of the Socialist People's Party (SNP) Dragoslav Šcekić he said for "Vijesti" that it is clear that the DPS and the parties with which he formed the government never had the necessary majority, but achieved it through machinations.
"They sold all of us the story of the threat of the state from opposition structures, but in fact the state was sold to criminal structures for, conditionally speaking, small sums of money, as can be seen from the messages that saw the light of day", he assessed.
Leader of the Movement for Change (PzP) Nebojsa Medojevic reminds that the contents of Sky correspondence, identification of participants, location of movements were available to the prosecution as early as 2021.
"And here we come to the key problem of Montenegro. The criminalized ANB, the police, customs, the prosecution and the courts covered up this evidence, tried to hide it, destroy it in order to protect the cartel leaders, but also themselves. In the later period, parts of that voluminous material began to leak to the media, and everyone who had access misused them, either for political purposes, or for discrediting their opponents or competitors in smuggling, or for racketeering and gaining certain benefits," said Medojević for " News”.
In the past few days, the DPS denied the allegations from the Sky correspondence, claiming that they were falsified and that the aim was to make the former president of Montenegro Milo Đukanović, "who knows how many times, stick the label of a man above the law".
"DPS party maintained by the mafia"
Boris Bogdanović expects the political and legal consequences of the new "Sky Affair".
He says that despite the good results, solving the problem in a systemic way must begin as soon as possible, and the money that the mafia "injected" into the state through political parties must be reexamined, stopped and taken away.
He says that this situation shows that the result of the party, which did not receive a small number of votes, is not the result of their political offer, but of the actions of mafia clans.
"Citizens have been deceived, there are certainly a lot of those who, until the disclosure of this information, could not even imagine that the DPS was actually a party that was maintained by the mafia. Today, these are no longer political statements by DPS's political opponents, but official reports by Europol and our state institutions, which clearly state that mafia clans are positioned in the state and manage it for their own interests, of course from the positions of the so-called the bureau of the mafia, which, despite the best wishes, has not yet been purged from the system", said Bogdanović.
He believes that the ASK should have known about it, stating that "the institutions are not functioning, most of the independent institutions are under the control of the parties of the former government, because that is exactly what suits the mafia".
"The best example of that is the 'Envelope' affair, the evidence of which went around the world, and for which no one was ever held accountable, while ASK pretended to be dead," said Bogdanović.
He says that it must not be forgotten that there are many people working for clans both in the judiciary and in the prosecutor's office.
"There is a lot of work, big challenges are ahead of us, but it is clear that it will not be like this anymore and that all parties that were criminally financed must disappear and reform if they want to be part of society and the state and its institutions," he said. .
"Envelope" does not have an epilogue yet
Vuković-Sekulović says that the "Sky Affair" already has a clear consequence, which is the complete dismantling of the regime that rested on organized crime, corruption and illegal financing, mainly of one, then the strongest party in Montenegro.
"What the 'Sky affair' showed is only potential proof of what every citizen of Montenegro already knew. The political changes in our country started with a similar affair which, unfortunately, has no epilogue yet, and that is the 'Envelope' when we all know how the businessman Dusko Knezevic donates money to DPS outside the legal procedure. Also, let's not forget the affair of giving money in the maximum amount for the DPS campaign from the residents of Konik, and we are fully aware of the fact in which conditions they live and what financial opportunities that part of the population has", she reminded.
She said that precisely because of the illegal financing of parties and everything that has been the consequence of it for years, Prime Minister Dritan Abazović scheduled a session of the National Security Council to once again remind the institutions of the system that they must do their work in preparation for the elections.
She said that it is important to wait for the position of the prosecutor's office, which, after so much selectivity and inaction of the old prosecutor's office, needs time and additional capacity to deal with current affairs.
Dragoslav Šćekić says that the SNP sees no other way to resolve this affair until the immediate opening of the case before the competent prosecutor's office, and they hope that after collecting all the necessary evidence and initiating proceedings against the criminals who provided the money, but also against "their political wing that exercised power 30 years”.
"It is important for us that the complete truth in this case be revealed. This means that if the allegations from the Sky application are true, ASK would have to explain how and why it accepted false reports from DPS and why it did not use other tools to check the accuracy of the data provided by DPS, and based on what has already been seen, it can be openly suspected that the DPS reports were not true," Šćekić said.
He called on the prosecutor's office to investigate all the facts related to this case and initiate proceedings before the competent court.
"Also, we deeply believe that proceedings will be initiated against anyone who is responsible for any criminal offense that is prosecuted ex officio, no matter what his name was and what position he held in the past. Justice must be equal for everyone, not only declaratively, but also practically, if Mr. Đukanović was a participant in these criminal acts, he must be on the dock," he said.
Selective targeting can lead to mob retaliation
Nebojša Medojević believes that the chief special prosecutor Vladimir Novović he is clearly not up to such a difficult and risky task, he cannot do anything by himself and then he started with calculations and selective choice of targets, which only made the situation more complicated and difficult.
"Such a spontaneous unfolding of the situation is the most dangerous because it depends on the subjective assessments, interests and decisions of individuals, which can lead to a dangerous destabilization of the situation in the country, terrorist actions of revenge by the mafia that was only slightly wounded and is now driven against the wall and is the most dangerous," warns Medojević.
He said that it is certain that the local cartels have many times more experienced professional killers than Novović has policemen (25).
"Not to mention the funds and resources and technological equipment and logistics international and regional network of the cartel. This is far beyond the capacity of our services," Medojević said.
He believes that Abazović is dealing with this dangerous phenomenon very frivolously, irresponsibly and amateurishly and is trying to score cheap points on this topic of national importance.
"The dangerous transnational mafia cannot be fought with media acrobatics and street stunts. He acts as a PR, not as the prime minister of the country in the jaws of the mafia," he said.
Medojević believes that the only politically responsible response is the formation of a government of national salvation, the introduction of a state of emergency and the implementation of radical measures to decriminalize institutions, the arrest of every cartel member, the temporary nationalization of their companies and assets in the country, and the formation of specialized agencies and institutions that would use the most modern technologies and knowledge in fight against monstrous organizations.
ASK deals only with those who do not register a car or 20 euros
Vuković-Sekulović said that for years the ASK has dealt exclusively with officials who forgot to register a car from 1991 or 20 euros of income of a member of the household.
"We give them full support to sanction any violation of the law, but in Montenegro the lifestyle of a certain number of politicians was enough for the ASK to at least try to obtain data on potential illegal enrichment", she assessed.
He believes that it takes a lot of time, strength and will to change legal solutions, but also the staff of many agencies in order to really serve as a control over the financing of political parties and individuals involved in politics.
"The law on the prevention of corruption needs to be systematically changed, in a serious and thorough way, and I believe that this will be a priority for the new convocation of the Assembly, in addition to the law on the Government and the Assembly, and it will have the full and sincere support of the GP URA", she said.
It's humiliating to wait for strangers to clean up our trash
Medojević believes that the government that would eventually be formed by the leader of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Milojko Spajić would not be able to respond to this difficult historical task and would very quickly become part of the smuggling cartels like the governments of Krivokapić and Abazović, "especially because of Spajić's already perceived tendencies towards crime and smuggling".
"It is time for the broadest social consensus and major historical decisions that will cleanse the country of Đukanović's malignant legacy and create the necessary systemic and political preconditions for the recovery of the country and the institutions of the rule of law. The problems will not be solved by themselves, and it is humiliating and unworthy to wait for foreigners to clean the garbage from our house", he said.
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