Democrat MPs: The goal of the "bonus" reaction is to justify Pešić, the former president of the DPS Youth

The objective of the "bonus" reaction of the Association of Judges is an attempt to justify the president of that association, Miodrag Pešić, former president of the youth of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), and to defend the thesis that he is not the author of the text, but allegedly around 200 member judges, who elect the assembly, and the assembly of the commission , one of which, for public relations, has the exclusive competence to communicate with the public and to do so on behalf of the Association of Judges, the deputies of Democratic Montenegro announced today.

They are reacting to the announcement of the Association of Judges in which, among other things, it is stated that "Pesic is not behind the announcement, but all the judges who are members".

"Democratic Montenegro, first of all, as a serious political entity, expresses its regret that all the honorable judges are being brutally abused by individuals from the Association of Judges, with the intention of destroying our institutional call for changes in the judiciary of Montenegro, at any cost. It is presented above as an attack on the judges and the independence of the judicial branch of government. During her term of office, it did not happen that someone was released from detention without a verdict being passed within three years,' which provoked a sharp reaction from this Association, unfortunately today it is dealing with the Democrats again," the press release of the Democrats, signed by Boris Bogdanović, Zdenka Popović, Albin Ćeman, Nikola Rovčanin, Anđela Vojinović, Duško Stjepović and Momčilo Leković.

The Democrats MPs added that after in the previous address, at the request of Pešić, they presented numerous evidences that confirm the obvious existence of "rotten boards" in the courts of Montenegro, there was no letter from the Association about them in the "bonus" statement.

"The goal of this 'bonus' reaction is only one, and that is quite clear to us, an attempt to justify President Pešić, former president of the DPS Youth, and to defend the thesis that he is not the author of the text, but allegedly around 200 judges who are members of the assembly, and the assembly of the commission, one of which is for public relations, has the exclusive authority to communicate with the public and to do so on behalf of the Association of Judges. If it was already a problem for all 200 judges to sign the relevant response, then why even did not sign with his name and surname and removed the doubt, that as you say about him, and we paraphrase "the best of all previous presidents, who doubled the membership of the association since his arrival", the compiler and the main responsible for this, according to you, political and really superfluous the polemic you have been conducting for a few days now? , and in this case the judiciary, regardless of whether we are in power or in the opposition," said the Democrats.

They stated that "the release of OKG members who are then brutally dealt with on the streets of Montenegro, endangering the lives of innocent citizens, must and will always have our reaction".

"That is why it is our obligation to call for institutional action due to the catastrophic situation in the judiciary, which certainly implies 'that the process of checking the integrity of all judges be implemented as soon as possible', as you pointed out. The vetting has certainly already been done by our neighboring country Albania and on that way cleaned the "rotten boards" in its judiciary, and which we hope Montenegro will do as soon as possible with gradual vetting, and to which our party will make a big contribution", said the Democrats' deputies.

They also indicate that the Venice Commission gave its opinion on draft constitutional amendments and the Law on Verification, concluding that "the verification of judges and prosecutors is justified and necessary in order to protect Albania from the scourge of corruption, which, if not resolved, could completely destroy judicial system".

"The reform of the judicial system was financed by Albania's western partners, and supervised by a joint mission, whose members were judges and prosecutors from EU member states and the USA. If, as we see, Albania could, be sure that Montenegro, where justice and "fairness has always been a fundamental value around which our society has gathered throughout the ages," reads the announcement of the Democrat MP.

They stated that they once again call on Pešić to, instead of responding to the Democrats, gather courage and respond strongly "to yesterday's statement by Vesna Medenica, which is the main cause of every consequence and of all the bad things that are happening today in the judiciary of Montenegro and because of which they are suffering all those honorable judges over whom her shadow stands, and of course you react to the statement of your party colleague who attacked the courts for ordering the detention of Zoran Lazović".