The Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) called on the Budva Security Department and the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Kotor to effectively carry out the investigation into the events at the Budva Municipal Assembly session held on January 10.
The CDT called on the Acting Director of the Police Administration, Lazar Šćepanović, and the Supreme State Prosecutor, Milorad Marković, to use all the legal possibilities and carry out the necessary supervision over the actions of their subordinates, so that the public would learn the truth about the events that took place in Budva, and any possible law breakers were brought to justice.
CDT Executive Director Dragan Koprivica said that this is important considering that this event, in addition to its criminal and legal implications, also has elements that can be understood as blocking democratic processes and preventing the formation of a government that was elected in the elections.
"We believe that the Police Directorate and the State Prosecutor's Office must do their job perfectly in this case and that after that there should not be the slightest room left for any calculations about political influence on their passivity and possible inactivity," said Koprivica.
According to him, this is particularly significant in light of the information that persons of security interest (BIL) also participated in the Budva venture.
"If effective action is not taken, we risk that a significant part of the domestic and international public will rightly conclude that politicians and BIL prevent the development of democratic processes that are regulated by the Constitution and laws," said Koprivica.
CDT, as he stated, also calls on political parties not to use the phrase "defend the will of the people" to try to cover possible criminal activities and violence with which they want to block democratic processes and turn Budva into Šavnik, which is an unprecedented event in countries that have moved far to on the way to the European Union (EU).
"This way of working and acting of politicians was manifested in Šavnik and Andrijevica and laid the foundations that such an understanding of democracy can be implemented whenever someone does not like the results of the elections", pointed out Koprivica.
As he recalled, various political subjects also claimed that the government in Podgorica was formed beyond what was promised in the campaign or beyond the "will of the people", but no one resorted to violent activities, removed the security of the building, nor did it in cooperation with BIL .
"The only judges of whether their will has been respected can be the citizens of this country and its municipalities, who make that judgment in democratic elections," emphasized Koprivica.
As he added, if there is a suspicion that there are elements of political corruption behind some activities in the municipalities, that is a job for state authorities.
"It sounds really incredible how unprotected the desire for power of our political actors has become: not even ten days have passed since the mass murder in Cetinje, and they are ready to raise tensions, resort to physical confrontations, risk new more serious incidents and further endangering the safety of the citizens of Montenegro ", said Koprivica.
As he said, they obviously decided to make violence a permanent feature and legacy of democratic processes in Montenegro.
"We will know whether the state authorities will have enough integrity to stand up to this dangerous plan, very soon after the public is informed of the outcomes of the processes initiated on the occasion of the events in Budva," concluded Koprivica.
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