What kind of country was this when two police directors, three assistants, the director of the National Security Agency (ANB), special prosecutors and court presidents ended up under investigation, indictments or arrests, asks Democratic Party MP Zdenka Popović, who pointed out that the article published in "Vijesti" testifies to the deep corruption and criminal connections that ruled the security sector in Montenegro under the former regime.
"Was the safety of citizens a priority at all, or was it about protecting criminal clans connected to the highest levels of government? The case of Vesna Medenica and her son Miloš Medenica best shows how the state and its citizens have 'embarrassed themselves before the world'. Those who swore to justice and the law used institutions for their own benefit and retribution against those who tried to oppose them," Popović said in a statement to the media.
DON'T MISS IT
She says that particularly worrying are the allegations that police officers were intimidated, that institutions were under political and criminal pressure, and that threats and violence were openly ignored. All this with complicity, passivity or fear of reprisals within the security system itself.
"As much as Miloš Medenica and his ilk arrogantly celebrated the destruction of other people's property and the spread of fear, these examples show not only their own, but also the powerlessness and collapse of institutions at that time. Vesna Medenica was obviously not just selling court rulings, but was a symbol of the devastation of the legal system and the state as a whole," the Democratic MP pointed out.
Regardless of the resistance to reforms, it is clear that serious panic and fear have prevailed among the structures of the former regimes and their allies in the criminal milieu, Popović assessed.
"The introduction of new personnel, police officers and officers who possess high integrity and professionalism clearly demonstrates the new government's determination to create a security sector that will serve citizens, not criminals.
"The police reforms make it clear that Montenegro will never again be held hostage by private interests or mafia clans. Those who were servants of the mafia and formed the backbone of the former system are now facing justice, and their fear of losing power only confirms how entrenched they were in corruption and illegal dealings," the Democratic MP believes.
This is an opportunity, she adds, to prove that justice is stronger than fear, the law above force, and the people above individuals who have used power to destroy the state.
"We will not give up until Montenegro becomes a country where the law is respected, crime is punished, and every citizen feels safe and trusts institutions. This is not a matter of the past, but a warning and determination for the future - we will never again allow the Montenegrin mafia to defeat Montenegro," the statement concluded.
Bonus video:
