Preparatory activities for the visit of members of the Parliamentary Security Committee to a security body for "immediate insight into the implementation of secret surveillance measures" are underway, he told "Vijesti". Miodrag Laković (PES), President of the Committee for Security and Defense of the Parliament of Montenegro.
At its sixth session, held on January 26, 2024, the Committee adopted the Parliamentary Oversight Plan for 2024, which provides for the continuous consideration of reports on the application of MTN by authorities and institutions from Article 3, Paragraph 1 of the Law on Parliamentary Oversight in the Field of Security and defense, which temporarily limit the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.
The Law on Parliamentary Supervision in the Field of Security and Defense, in Article 3, provides for parliamentary supervision over the work of the Ministry of Defense, the Army of Montenegro, the National Security Agency, the Police Administration, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Administration, as well as other bodies and institutions dealing with security and defense affairs.
According to the Law, the Board can initiate certain issues and perform parliamentary supervision at the proposal of the Assembly, the President or members of the Board, other bodies or institutions.
The Law on Parliamentary Supervision in the Field of Security and Defense provides for visits by representatives of the Committee to bodies and institutions in the field of security and defense in order to gain insight into the documentation, conduct discussions with persons working on certain issues, with prior notice within a period of not less than 24 hours, in accordance with the law.
On August 19, 2024, Laković announced the possibility of such a visit.
"The Committee for Security and Defense will, in the near future, set a date and arrange a visit to a security authority, the ANB or the Police Directorate, which applies MTN, for the direct insight of Committee members into the procedures implemented by the authority, to determine the regularity of work in the context of compliance regulations that regulate the subject area and assessments of the legality of the actions of service members", said Laković to "Vijesta" at the time.
Explaining why the planned visit has not yet taken place, he said that "this working body of the Parliament of Montenegro fulfills the established obligations by following the dynamics of work determined by the parliamentary sessions through the legislative activity of the Committee, as a parent or interested working body, as well as the obligations of all members of the Security Committee and defense in terms of planning sessions and other activities".
"Here, I would like to highlight the activities that the Board has implemented over a long period of time, in connection with the consideration of the Law on Information Security. The above confirms the number of sessions of the Committee for Security and Defense held in the previous, shorter period and their duration, all in the context of the effectiveness of parliamentary work through the activities of the parent committee," adds Laković.
He emphasizes the importance of the control role of the Parliament of Montenegro and the Committee for Security and Defense.
"The activity of visiting a security body is important for our further work, especially considering its practical aspect and getting to know the members better based on direct insight into the implementation of secret surveillance measures, in the planning phase, and that they are preparatory activities for implementation, and how The work plan for the current year is already established, in progress", explains Miodrag Laković.
Zirojević: We don't know if the visit is planned
"Despite the announcements of the President of the Board, the visit was not carried out. What is the reason for that, as a member of the Committee, I am not informed, nor do we have any information about whether such a visit is planned and when", said the deputy and member of the Committee for Security and Defense Nikola Zirojevic (SD).
He believes that the Board did absolutely nothing on this issue, as, as Zirojević says, "it did nothing else on numerous other issues."
"As I have pointed out several times, the Security and Defense Committee has, unfortunately, been turned into a flowing boiler of laws and other acts that come to us from the Government, due to the views of the parliamentary majority and President Laković," says Zirojević.
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