Marković: There must be a division of power, you have the possibility to initiate my dismissal

The deputies finished the discussion on the reports on the work of the Prosecutor's Council and the State Prosecutor's Office for the year 2023, and they will comment on them later.

The President of the Judicial Council, Radoje Korać, believes that Montenegro should have provincial judges, because judges have no substitutes and the cases suffer, the cases pile up.

"The state should approve at least 15 apartments and ensure that where the substitute judges go, housing is provided".

Andrija Mandić said that he is worried about why a young man in Montenegro does not have the ambition to be a judge.

"How is it that young people who graduate from law do not want to run for judges? What is their motive when they enroll in the Faculty of Law?" asked Mandić.

The Supreme State Prosecutor said that his actions were "always in accordance with the Constitution and the law" and that he never attended any meeting where it was discussed whether he would be the VDT.

"I have never promised anything to anyone in order to be VDT. I have never had such communications and I have never sent anyone to influence anyone to be elected. I have not had any communication with any politician since I was elected, except for the ministers I work with" , Markovic said.

He invited anyone to openly say that he talked to him, that he conditioned him and that he promised someone anything in that context.

"I have only been here for five months and I was elected by the votes of 61 deputies. This is a fact that indicates that there cannot be any influence on me. You have the possibility to initiate my dismissal and I have no problem with that. I came and applied for this position in order to changed something".

Danijel Živković said that someone is not telling the truth - either Marković today, or Milan Knežević yesterday.

The Speaker of the Parliament Andrija Mandić said that no one could ever, from the parliamentary majority, let alone ask for him and Knežević, anything, any favors from "those who cheered and clothed Montenegro", that they would not ask him from " Mr. Marković and Mr. Novović".

As he says, Marković does not agree with all the information that reaches the media, because it does not benefit the prosecution.

"This is some information that we receive from international partners. We would jeopardize our cooperation with international partners (Europol, Eurojust) if we allowed this information to leak".

Responding to criticism for the special 60 percent salary supplement, he said that it was established by law and all acting and supreme state prosecutors before him received it.

Regarding war crimes, he emphasized that there are "very good developments", that cooperation with the International Residual Mechanism is exceptional.

He said that, after the changes to the Criminal Procedure Code, they could use evidence from The Hague and file an indictment.

"A team has been formed that has direct and immediate cooperation with the Residual Mechanism".

Marković said that there is no problem for MPs to change the Law on State Prosecution, that prosecutors can be invited to parliament to talk about specific cases, but he considers this to be unconstitutional.

"The division of power must exist. I don't want to teach you, but to express my point of view. I cannot talk about specific cases here, either those in the investigation phase, or those in the investigation phase or at the main hearing".

He said that he could not reform the Prosecutor's Office in five months.

In his closing speech, Marković said that there is no one in the prosecution organization who is against dialogue and criticism.

"I do not have the possibility, nor do I want, to forbid you to criticize the work of the prosecution, either in these benches or outside the benches. I don't want to do that in relation to the media, NGOs, but I want to make it clear that the State Prosecutor's Office must adhere to the Constitution and the Law, we must protect the separation of powers".

He also said that they should look at the practice of the region, what are the possibilities that the parliament has in the matter of parliamentary control of the work of judicial institutions.

He recalled the decision of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, which found that the possibility of a control hearing of the prosecution and the court in regard to specific cases is unconstitutional.

"Whenever the law provides, the State Prosecutor's Office and I will be here to talk to you."

Bosniak Party (BS) MP Amer Smailović pointed out that the Bosniak people do not have confidence in the judiciary, because the number of members of that people in judicial institutions is negligible.

Branislav Nenezić from Social Democrats (SD) said that his expectation was that Novović would invite Knežević and Marković to make a statement.

"All the discussion is going in a bad direction. I'm afraid that the whole Java is going in a bad direction, that this is driving us further apart because we have become a country where the evidence and the only way to accuse someone is correspondence on the Sky application, and no one gives an answer when journalists come to correspondence that should be secret and should be evidence. How is it possible that something that is used as evidence in certain processes is first found on one of the independent portals, and then we only hear the answer from the authorities. Also, four weeks ago it was an ex Minister Vesna Bratić reported that she is in danger. How can the prosecutor's office not find her if she lives and walks around and informs the police about her safety?" asked the SD deputy.

PES MP Tonći Janović appealed that the people who attacked the Lugar in the north of Montenegro be brought to justice as soon as possible in order to send a message.

Vladislav Bojović (DNP) indicated that the leader of his party "clearly and convincingly communicated how the DNP sees the state of affairs in the prosecution today".

"Mr. Marković, I think it would be responsible for Mr. (chief special prosecutor) Vladimir Novović to join you in this room. There is no obligation, but I think it would be an act of responsibility. He believes that you and Novović are the most powerful people in Montenegro. You have such responsibilities, but also the field of responsibility. The fact that the public perceives you as such requires an appropriate level of control over your work, in order to avoid possible abuse of the power you have," he pointed out.

Bojović read Article 147 of the Law on the Prosecution, according to which the Supreme State Prosecutor and the Chief Special Prosecutor are obliged to participate in the work of the session at the invitation of the Assembly and competent working bodies.

"Why was this article of the law incorporated? Because at one time Ranka Čarapić avoided coming to the Assembly for a control hearing when the topic was the 'Telekom' affair. Because Milivoje Katnić and Ivica Stanković avoided appearing before the Anti-Corruption Committee. This article "You must respond to the invitation of certain competent working bodies. You have a special obligation to respond to the invitation of the Committee for the Political System, Justice and Administration, the Committee for Security and Defense, and the Administrative Committee," said the DNP deputy.

He denied Marković's claims that VDT made the biggest contribution to obtaining a positive IBAR and added that it was done by the Assembly.

DPS MP Mihailo Anđušić recalled the case of "Nobody's House" where it was searched while its owner was making a statement in front of the media, and that they have time to "twist demijana brandy", but they don't have time to deal with what their club of deputies is doing. DPS presented with evidence - the case of the Pljevlja Coal Mine director, Milan Lekić, who "concluded a contract with a suspicious company".

MP of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Darko Dragović pointed out that his party's decision to support Marković for the Supreme State Prosecutor was an autonomous decision, regardless of whether any meetings were held.

He added that he believes that there is no selectivity in Marković's work, but that DPS can launch an initiative for his dismissal.

Živković told Dragović that, if what the leader of the Democratic People's Party (DNP) Milan Knežević is saying turns out to be true, Marković should confirm or deny it.

"The election of Marković was not based on references, because the other candidates had no lesser references. This election was agreed upon by the Government of Montenegro and the citizens should know that. Everything we said turned out to be true, and Knežević debunked it." said the DPS leader.

Dragović said that Živković was trying to take over the powers of the prosecutor's office, and called the club of DPS deputies "ill-mannered".

The DPS leader said that "they don't have a problem with him, but with Knežević".

Chairperson Zdenka Popović (Demorkate) told Živković that she would also ask a question about the negative reports of the judiciary and the prosecution.

MP of the Socialist People's Party (SNP) Bojan Božović indicated that the former director Goran Marinović held a press conference where he explained all the items for which he was attacked, but also that his control hearing before the Parliament was initiated.

The president and MP of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Danijel Živković pointed out that MPs have the right to talk about individual cases, and that it is up to Marković to assess whether he will answer.

He asked Marković if he attended the meeting in the Government where the representatives of the parliamentary majority were present and added that his party did not support him "because he did not consult with them".

Živković said that, if it is true that there was a meeting, he has reasonable doubts that he became a prosecutor under certain conditions.

"It is natural that the case of Jelena Perović attracted the attention of the public. The prosecution requested that she be arrested on the basis of the budget inspection report that arrived at the prosecutor's office at the end of March, and Jelena Perović was handcuffed on April 18, some twenty days later. Jelena Perović was arrested in the presence of the police with phantoms and with long pipes. Is this an equal approach as we have in other cases? drawn up by one of the commissions, it is alleged that the director gave consent for additional work without the opinion of the medical board and without the procedures, which led to the extension of patient waiting lists where work contracts were concluded outside the law were there long pipes, phantoms?" said the DPS leader.

He added the case of the sacked director of Montefarm, Goran Marinović, and that the Ministry submitted stronger accusations in that case than in the case of Jelena Perović.

"What about the case of Vesna Bratić? The Minister of Education and Science came to the parliament and said that the previous minister had signed more than 200 decisions on the dismissal of directors and that today in the proceedings the damage caused to the budget due to illegal dismissals is being determined. That was two years ago, but you can't find Vesna Bratić," Živković pointed out.

He also recalled the case of the election in Šavnik.

The ninth session of the first regular session of the Parliament of Montenegro continued today. The deputies continued the discussion on the work of the Prosecutor's Council and the State Prosecutor's Office for the year 2023

At the beginning of his presentation, Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković pointed out that no one in the state prosecution organization shies away from dialogue or criticism.

"The fact that we are here yesterday and today is proof that the prosecutor's organization wants to talk. Our obligation is to submit reports to the parliament and, when the conditions are right, to participate in the work of the Assembly and the competent committees. Yesterday I wanted to explain that he cannot talk about specific cases here. That is my position as a prosecutor and there is no nervousness or threat, but only a need for consistent application of the Constitution and the law," he pointed out.

Marković reminded that his election to the position of Supreme State Prosecutor was voted for by 61 deputies, but that this does not change his attitude towards the deputies who did not vote for him.

"There is no meeting where I promised anything to anyone, except what I said at the parliamentary committee, which is that my principle is that the prosecution will act in the same way in relation to every case and every person - based on the evidence and in accordance with principles of independence and independence of the prosecutor's organization", said the Supreme State Prosecutor and repeated that "he did not send emissaries to anyone".

He emphasized that there is no political influence on him, and that every case in which there is evidence will be solved.