It is cynical that the recent president of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, is today a critic of undemocratic practices and repression, and for more than three decades he satirized everything that was critical of him.
This is what the interlocutors of "Vijesti" say, commenting on Đukanović's announcement on Twitter that the current government in Montenegro does not tolerate critical thought and that it takes on the labels of dictatorship, totalitarianism and repression.
"Of course, it is cynical that an autocrat, who ruled for three decades precisely by repression, and persecuted critics in various ways, today defends freedom of thought and speech from the new political classes", Milena, director and journalist of the weekly "Monitor" assessed for "Vijesti" Perovic.

During the thirty years of the rule of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) in Montenegro, the civil sector and the media were demonized and criticized the government of that party and its leader while he was moving from the chair of the head of state and government.
The editor of a media outlet was killed, numerous journalists were attacked and beaten, the property of "Vijesti" and its journalists and owners were destroyed, they were demonized in the media that were controlled by Đukanović and his close associates, the director of MANS was exposed to a brutal campaign, arrested are journalists, opposition officials are convicted, "detained", beaten and almost nothing or little has been legally adjudicated....
Đukanović did not condemn such behavior, even formally, but motivated his followers with statements that "journalists who work in those houses are "monsters", "rats" and "enemies of the state", that the media mafia formed parties to preserve illegally acquired capital. ..
In the Informer's campaign against the director of MANS, he ruled that it was she who was on the disputed recordings of scandalous content, and that everyone knows that, they are just pretending not to know.
After such evaluations, brutal campaigns and attacks intensified even more, while at the same time the government, led by his party, found ways to help parts of the civil sector and the media that glorified Đukanović and his government.
Critical civil activists were illegally dismissed from the council, and yesterday's DPS officials and Đukanović apologists were elected with fake biographies.
Leader turned critic
Two months after he left the state office, Đukanović commented on social conditions on Twitter two days ago after the change of DPS government in the 2020 elections.
He wrote that in the past three years, few actors on the public scene have preserved their independence and impartiality, as he stated, sharpened their critical thinking despite the increasingly frequent direct attacks by the authorities, such as some NGOs, journalists, artists, and intellectuals.
"We can agree with their assessments or not. We can and it would be desirable to have a dialogue with them about it. But we must, especially if we are holders of state functions, respect their independence and ensure their right to act freely, without intimidation and threats", he stated.
Milena Perović-Korać, who herself was a target of "Pobjeda" when it was edited by the later head of the Government Bureau Srđan Kusovac, says that Đukanović seems to enjoy leaving politics and state functions, and that he should have done it much earlier:
"The former three-decade leader is now a critic of undemocratic practices and repression, which marked his rule. It is possible that we will soon see him as a civil activist."
She said that Đukanović's statements about the need to exterminate critics, that is, the media that he did not control and dissenters, are well known.
"During Đukanović's rule in the media, which he controlled, numerous brutal hunts and campaigns against dissidents were conducted, journalists, editors, media owners were beaten and persecuted, Duško Jovanović was killed. With the silence of the captured institutions, which he created precisely to serve him to persecute dissenters and protect his way of ruling and what he thus acquired", said Perović-Korać.
"Critics as enemies to be silenced"
Director of the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIN), Milka Tadić-Mijović, also a target of "Pobjeda", but also of Serbian tabloids controlled by Đukanović's associates and friends, said that "it is good that Đukanović remembered to protect the interests of non-governmental activists and media".

"He - who for more than three decades satirized everything that was critical of him. He - in whose period people were killed, journalists were shot, bombs were thrown in front of "Vijesta" and "Monitor", which he inspired with his language of hatred, calling undisciplined media and journalists mice that need to be exterminated, traitors and people who work against the state. , said Tadić-Mijović.
She pointed out that the best thing about Đukanović is that during his time, Montenegro was at the lowest level in terms of media freedom in Europe. Tadić-Mijović pointed out that the reports of Fridom House and other relevant institutions also speak best about him, which called his regime, especially in the last phase, hybrid.
"It seems to me that the best definition of Đukanović's system was given by Foreign Affairs in 2012, when it ranked Montenegro among the 12 mafia states in the world. That this definition was very precise, we can see these days in the correspondence of the Sky application, in which the mafia was at the heart of the state, and all critics of that system, enemies that should be silenced", Tadić-Mijović assessed.
She pointed out that Đukanović, ever since the early works and war crimes committed in Montenegro in the XNUMXs and the initial accumulation of capital, did not waste words or means to destroy his opponents, not even in opposition political parties, non-governmental organizations and the media.
MANS, immediately after Đukanović's evaluation, reminded that in Montenegro, during his regime, journalists and civil society activists were persecuted, arrested, beaten and intimidated, and the most heinous media campaigns were conducted under his patronage.
"It is unfortunate that we waited for Đukanović to give lessons to anyone about his relationship with civil society three years after the change of government," MANS announced.
Đurović: Let those he supposedly defends worry
The director of the Media Center, Goran Đurović, told "Vijesta" that Đukanović's statement should worry those whom he allegedly defends, stating that comparing attitudes towards critics is, to say the least, pointless.
He assessed that Đukanović and his followers captured all institutions in Montenegro, which was assessed by the EU as a "captured state".

"Through those captured institutions, he protected the media that satirized all critics of the DPS and its government. There were no sanctions for "Informer" because of the set-up shameful campaigns against NGO activists, Pink M television, which through the famous format of a minute or two smeared all critics from NGOs, media and political parties that were not controlled by DPS. On the order of Milo Đukanović, in 2017 and 2018, representatives of NGOs were illegally removed from the Council of the RTCG, the Council of the Agency for Electronic Media and the Council of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption," said Đurović.
According to a final court verdict, he was illegally removed from the RTCG Council.
Đurović reminded that Đukanović stated in 2018 that the courts should not review the decisions of the Parliament of Montenegro, which DPS official Vesna Medenica understood as an order, so the Supreme Court issued a "binding opinion" according to which appeals against illegal decisions of the Parliament are not allowed.
"Milo Đukanović only diverts the topic with his statements and returns the public's attention to his dictatorship, thus harming any dialogue that aims to problematize the behavior of the new authorities," Đurović pointed out.
Intoxication with power or nostalgia for "free thinking"
The President of the country, Jakov Milatović, commented that his predecessor "recalled the time of 'freedom of opinion and publicly expressed criticism' during his multi-decade autocratic rule".
"The former president of Montenegro nostalgically reminded us of the time of "freedom of opinion and publicly expressed criticism" during his multi-decade autocratic rule. Not a word about attacks on journalists, construction of affairs against critical NGO leaders, persecution of political dissidents, arrests of citizens due to comments left on social networks," wrote Milatović on Twitter.
DPS spokesman Miloš Nikolić stated in his response that "if Milatović and the other indirect and direct actors of the 'thirty of August revival' do not see how these three years, since they came to positions on the wings of the apostolic government, have been disastrous for critical thought and public speech in Montenegro, then they are intoxicated by the government, without a realistic perception of what is happening around them".
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