Priorities of the newly elected head of the prosecution Milorad Marković should be help to the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SST), which achieves results despite personnel, logistical and spatial problems, and achieving results in terms of determining the disciplinary and ethical responsibility of prosecutors, as well as the way they are evaluated.
This is what the executive director of the NGO Center for Civil Liberties (CEGAS) told "Vijesta" last night. Marija Popović Kalezić, answering questions on how it will be seen whether Montenegro got a serious Supreme State Prosecutor (VDT) or someone's "extended hand", and what his priorities should be.
Marković was elected to that position yesterday in the Assembly, with the votes of 61 (out of a total of 81) parliamentarians. In addition to the constituents of the ruling majority - the Europe Now Movement (PES), the Democrats, the New Serbian Democracy (NSD), the Democratic People's Party (DNP), the Socialist People's Party (SNP), the Albanian Forum, the Albanian Alliance and CIVIS, it was also supported by a part opposition - Bosniak Party (BS), Civil Movement (GP) URA, Social Democrats (SD), United Montenegro and one independent MP.
This ended the acting situation in the position of VDT, which lasted from October 2019. Since then, the "temporary" heads of the prosecution have been Ivica Stankovic, Drazen Burić, Maja Jovanovic i Tatjana Begović, whose second acting mandate expires on February 8.
Jovanović and Suzana Mugoša. Jovanović did not receive any votes, while Mugoša received 13 from the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
START FROM SDT
Popović Kalezić assesses that Marković's "priority above priorities" must be solving the problems of the SDT, which he heads Vladimir Novović.
"If the work of the SDT is threatened, and it has only produced certain results in the last three years, and at the same time it functions in unenviable conditions - in terms of space, staff, logistics, then the VDT must also contribute to the work of the SDT... He will thereby show a willingness to change certain things in the Montenegrin judiciary", says the interlocutor.
Chief Special Prosecutor (GST) Novović repeatedly pointed out the problems of the institution he manages with personnel, space and logistics, saying that SDT does not even have access to all public databases.
Popović Kalezić says that, after solving the problems of the SDT, Marković must work on the changes and application of the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office and regulations, so that the state gets results regarding the determination of disciplinary and ethical responsibility of prosecutors, as well as the way of their evaluation.
He points out that he especially expects this because Marković does not come from the prosecutor's organization, and therefore is not burdened by "negative solidarity among prosecutors and heads of prosecutor's offices".
"Who evaluated each other with the highest marks and who did not have a developed critical thought and a model for controlling their work", she underlines.
In the report on enlargement, which was published in November last year, the European Commission stated that ensuring the ethical and disciplinary responsibility of judges and prosecutors is still a problem of the Montenegrin judiciary. It was stated that Montenegro has not changed the disciplinary and ethical legal framework for judges and prosecutors, and that "further improvements and efficient implementation of the judicial inspection system, including more exhaustive and unannounced inspections" are necessary.
Popović Kalezić adds that in CEGAS they expect the VDT to monitor the supervision of the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office over STD and higher prosecutor's offices, and then also the supervision of those prosecutor's offices over basic ones.
"We warned that these types of surveillance did not even happen in previous years," reminds Popović Kalezić, saying that Marković has a great responsibility, because the parliamentarians have shown him enormous trust "which should be justified".
Ten days ago, at a hearing before the Parliamentary Committee for the Political System, Judiciary and Administration, Marković announced that he wanted the prosecution to work independently and efficiently, and exclusively on the basis of the law. He told the MPs that he did not want to accuse anyone a priori, but that he would initiate proceedings against the prosecutors if there was "concrete evidence". He assessed that the results of the prosecution so far were achieved "due to the individual contribution of individual prosecutors and their great sacrifice".
Marković said three days ago that the investigation of war crimes will be one of his priorities.
CONDITIONAL SUPPORT
At yesterday's parliamentary session, there was no dispute about Marković, and his candidacy was not disputed by the DPS representatives either. The head of the caucus of that party Andrija Nikolić, said that they have no "professional complaints about Marković", and that he considers him "a decent and serious man".
"But in that relationship, we gave preference to Ms. Mugoša, because we believe that she has more experience and knows the justice system better," he said.
However, even though Marković received a lot of support, it is not, as some parties claim, unreserved. That's right, the leader of the DNP Milan Knezevic announced that they are giving Markovć conditional support and that they expect him to get involved in "exposing abuses in the case of a 'coup'". He added that the DNP expects the new VDT to be involved in "exposing the struggle for supremacy in the security sector".
The message that there is no unconditional support was also sent from BS. MP of that party Amer Smailovic he said that they expect Marković to fulfill everything he promised.
"He said that the prosecution of war crimes will be his priority in his work. If Mr. Marković did not fulfill everything he said, we expect him to show personal responsibility and resign", he underlined.
The SD said that they expect Marković to deny all allegations that they had the opportunity to hear in response to his candidacy. These allegations primarily refer to the fact that his late father was accused in a war crime case, and then acquitted.
"Clarifying war crimes must be one of his (Marković's) priorities. He must not turn a blind eye to the inaction of the officials of the 'liberating government'. He must not do that. I am thinking of the cases (mayor of Podgorica and former minister of defense) Oliver Injac, (former ministers of education) Vesne Bratic etc. We expect him to carry out his duties impartially", said their deputy Nikola Zirojević.
DON'T MISS IT
From the strongest ruling party, PES, they said that they were impressed by Marković's work plan, and that they think that he has no "stains in his career".
"It is about a man who is independent and independent, who can handle some pressures coming from outside. We are convinced that he is a good VDT", said the head of the PES club Vasilije Carapić.
The election of Marković was welcomed by the EU Delegation in Podgorica, saying that it was a key prerequisite for the regular functioning of the State Prosecutor's Office.
"In order to take advantage of the current momentum of the enlargement policy and advance in the accession negotiations with the EU, Montenegro should continue to prioritize reforms in the area of the rule of law, in order to fulfill the temporary benchmarks in chapters 23 and 24 in the shortest possible time frame," they stated.
The message was also sent by the European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Oliver Varhelji, writing on the X network that the parliament's decision represents an excellent dynamic on the way to the EU.
Congratulations also came from the highest Montenegrin officials. That's right, the prime minister Milojko Spajic announced that yesterday the VDT was not only elected, but that "a chance for the future of Montenegro" was given, the president Jakov Milatovic assessed that it was a "key step in strengthening the rule of law", while he was the Minister of Justice Andrej Milović said that Marković will contribute to the strengthening of institutions.
Marković is a master of legal sciences with many years of experience in the field of rule of law - human rights, justice, criminal law and confiscation of property benefits. He worked at the Faculty of Law and as an expert/consultant on EU, Council of Europe, OSCE, UNDP projects...
The mandate of the VDT lasts for five years.
In the program, he announced assistance to SDT
In the work program that he submitted to the Prosecutor's Council in January of last year, Marković wrote that, in order for the functioning and work of the SDT to be at the expected level, it is necessary to provide the spatial capacities and technical equipment of that institution.
"Create a building renovation project for the needs of SDT; provide funds from budget reserves up to the amount necessary for the complete renovation of the building; in cooperation with international partners, evaluate and provide the most modern equipment for work (including forensic equipment)", the document states.
Marković assessed that it is necessary to "further improve cooperation (SDT) with the Special Police Department (SPO) and create conditions for smooth cooperation."
"The special police department, as a unit dedicated to the implementation of specific investigations and investigations within the competence of the SDT, must be additionally strengthened in personnel, technical and professional terms, in parallel with the improvement at the level of the SDT and risk assessments in terms of criminal offenses, in the focus of the work of the SDT a. However, it is necessary to more strongly involve and coordinate the work with other sectors of the Police Administration, and in the first place the entire Sector for the fight against crime and the Sector for financial-intelligence affairs, as well as the sectors of the border police and special purpose police", he stated.
The program states that specialization "in relation to the specific areas of activity" of the SDT is necessary in the area of criminal acts, as well as the confiscation of property benefits acquired through crime, as well as the improvement and strengthening of international judicial cooperation. He stated that he plans to establish the practice of launching financial investigations (reconnaissance) at the level of basic and higher state prosecutor's offices, as well as improving the practice in cases of confiscation of property benefits acquired through criminal activity.
Popović Kalezić: VDT to establish all the facts in cases of war crimes
Asked whether it is necessary for Marković to clarify the ambiguities regarding his father's case as soon as possible, Popović Kalezić replied that there is a "sensitive situation".
"Whether there are elements of conflict (of interest) or not - I expect the VDT to be systemically proactive, to comply with all obligations from the corpus of establishing all the facts in connection with various crimes that de facto burden Montenegrin society and the judiciary, and all this in coordination and cooperation with international institutions... VDT must provide full logistics and essential support to SDT in order to establish the necessary factual situation regarding the issue of war crimes", said the interlocutor.
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