The President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, violated the Law on the Financing of Entities and Political Campaigns when, during the campaign for the Podgorica elections, he recorded the video "President Milatović - Power is in your hands" in the official premises - the President's Cabinet.
This is stated in the decision of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) upon application by the NGO Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS).
The decision states that the "Jakov Milatović - For a Better Podgorica" coalition also violated Article 36 of the same Act by recording that video material.
In his statement, Milatović stated that his address is publicly available, and that it is possible to unequivocally establish that he did not in any way call on citizens to vote for a specific electoral list, but on the contrary - to support those whom they consider to share their vision of the development of Podgorica .
"Also, he pointed out that with his address, as the President of Montenegro, he wanted to motivate the citizens of the capital city to freely express their political position in the elections and thereby contribute to the affirmation of democracy," the explanation states.
The ASK states that by assessing each piece of evidence individually, as well as in their interrelationship, and after considering the case file, it was determined that Milatović recorded video material in the official premises as an address that referred to sending an affirmative message to citizens to exercise their right to vote. and that they do not allow important decisions to be made without them, "but that by taking over, i.e. making the said material available to the political entity that bore his name, he violated the provisions related to the prohibition of the use of state funds and on providing the same conditions to all participants in the electoral process".
"In support of the above, the fact that on September 23.09.2024, XNUMX, i.e. the day before the official announcement was publicly broadcast or published on portals, the YouTube platform and social networks, the aforementioned political subject knew that the aforementioned video address would be realized, that they will forward the same for publication as "promo content" based on the implementation of the Agreement on Business Cooperation signed between "Daily Press" and the Coalition "Jakov Milatović - For a better Podgorica", and it was therefore clearly established that the participants in the election process did not possess, which was undisputedly established in the proceedings before the Agency and the review of the case files," the explanation reads.
It will be emphasized that the violation of the Law occurred because the same conditions were not provided to all participants in the election process.
"The agency established the responsibility of the Coalition consisting of "Movement for Podgorica", "Civil Movement URA" and "Movement for Change", i.e. the responsible person of this coalition, Mileta Radovanić, in the manner indicated by the conclusion of the contract and payment of the invoice to cover the expenses of the election campaign video - material that was recorded in the premises of the President of Montenegro, made publicly available, thus making that material, contrary to legal restrictions, an election activity of a political subject, i.e. the electoral list "Jakov Milatović - For a better Podgorica", and which facts must have been known to the responsible person", the explanation reads.
On September 25, MANS submitted to the KAS an initiative to initiate proceedings against Milatović, due to the suspicion that he violated the Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns.
At the time, MANS stated that, after the video was broadcast on YouTube, it was additionally promoted as political marketing on the Vijesti portal.
That non-governmental organization reminded that the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns (Article 36) explicitly prohibits "the use of the premises of state bodies, state administration bodies, local self-government bodies... if the same conditions are not provided to all participants in the election process".
"Since other participants in the local elections in Podgorica did not have the opportunity to record their promotional videos in the office of the president of the state, there is a well-founded suspicion that President Milatović violated the law and gave his electoral list exclusive access to the premises of the presidency. According to the Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns , using the premises of state bodies in a way that violates the equality of all participants in the electoral process is punishable by a fine of 5.000 to 20.000 euros", they assessed from of MANS.
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