A mafia member for every critic: The government often labels dissenters

When there are no arguments to respond to criticism, the government often defends its failures and bad intentions by attacking those who disagree with it, which is a pattern that has been followed in Montenegro for decades. Although the public has "discovered" this tactic, it must know that a government that retaliates by labeling its critics is dangerous.

"Vijesti"'s interlocutors thus comment on the fact that, instead of responding to the essence of the remarks, some in power are increasingly placing their critics in the same "basket" as criminal structures.

One of the cases when this was particularly evident occurred a week ago, during the adoption of amendments to the regulations on internal affairs and the National Security Agency (ANB), which Brussels said were not in line with EU legislation (the head of state Jakov Milatovic in the meantime, he returned the laws to the Parliament for reconsideration).

Minister of Interior Affairs Danilo Šaranović (Democrats), he said at the time that the proposed (and then voted on) solutions of the Law on Internal Affairs "protect the state from the mafia and the police from crime", and that these were the only reasons why individuals were against their adoption. In other words, he presented the opposition to the regulation, which is contested by a part of the public, as a defense of the mafia, or criminal interests.

The amendments were criticized by the opposition, civil society, and some of the government. They warned, among other things, that certain provisions of the law provide scope for political abuse of the police, as well as the removal of "unsuitable" officers without conducting disciplinary proceedings.

Sewing on labels was also seen after the recent arrest of a businessman Aca Đukanović, brother of the former long-time Prime Minister and Head of State and the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Milo Đukanović. DPS claimed that this was the “culmination of political abuse of the police” and an attempt to divert attention from the scandals in the Police Directorate, and the Democrats responded with the message that “political hypocrites, to whose political structure Aco Đukanović also belongs, have been attacking the Police Directorate for two years”, that they have “spread moral lessons”, and that now they are bothered “when the law applies to everyone”, including the “first family”. Thus, criticism of the police’s actions was transferred to the DPS and their alleged political-criminal hypocrisy, instead of the question of whether the institutions are working professionally and indiscriminately.

A decade-long pattern and unlearned lessons

Director of the Center for Investigative Reporting of Montenegro (CIN-CG) Milka Tadic Mijović, she told "Vijesti" that all governments that tend towards authoritarianism present critics as hostile, dangerous elements.

"This is a pattern we have been accustomed to for decades...", she said, recalling that when the DPS was in power (three decades, until 2020), it called certain media outlets a "media mafia" and representatives of non-governmental organizations "enemies of the state."

Tadić Mijović herself has been under attack from some in the government due to criticism directed at her, and the most striking example is the insults sent to her by the first man of Pljevlja in December last year. Dario Vranes (New Serbian Democracy).

Program associate at the Center for Civic Education (CGO) Nikola Mirkovic, assessed that it is not news that the current government continues to look for excuses for all its failures in the actions of the former regime, even six years after the fall of the DPS government and three different governments after that.

"That's something they took from the mentor of this majority, (the President of Serbia) Aleksandar Vučić", which even today, after almost 14 years in power in Serbia, is blamed on the 'yellows', that is, the Democratic Party," he claims.

He states that all critics of the government have felt the labeling and criminalization - some earlier, some more recently. He says that it is ironic when a government that is taking on all the autocratic characteristics tries to present others as obstacles to reforms and EU integration, which, he reminds us, was a similar system used by the DPS regime for any accusations made by the opposition or the critical civil sector.

"However, the then opposition and the current government do not understand that this is exactly what led to the fall of the DPS. Instead of learning that lesson and introducing new, democratic approaches - we have very worrying trends," Mirković warned.

According to him, this has gone particularly far in the parts of the government that control the security sector, and which, he claims, threaten someone or abuse their positions almost daily "in order to use, and sometimes fabricate, information with the aim of compromising opponents."

The interlocutor notes that the visible influence on the judiciary, the insistence on untenable indictments or "movie arrests", all in an attempt to cover up the lack of measurable reform results, is extremely dangerous.

"We have reached a stage where clear messages and assessments from the EU Delegation to Montenegro, as well as other EU institutions, are being ignored - specifically regarding two controversial laws," Mirković reminded, adding that the public has already seen through this government tactic and that it is becoming counterproductive for the government itself to criminalize anyone who tells them something they do not want to hear.

"This leaves a risk that those who truly deserve to be prosecuted properly will be inadequately punished for the sake of petty political points, and in the end, the state of Montenegro will bear the damage," he stated.

Bogdanović: Criticism is one thing, resistance is another

Head of the Democrats Parliamentary Club Boris Bogdanovic, denies that any criticism is being declared as protection for criminal structures, stating that this is not true. The government, he says, has adopted 12 amendments to both disputed laws after months of consultations with the European Commission (EC) and "well-intentioned criticism".

Likewise, he adds, it is not true that all resistance to reforms is exclusively legal or principled in nature. According to him, in the Montenegrin system there are serious reasons to suspect that some of the resistance comes from networks that are directly threatened by the reforms.

"The President himself, when reinstating the laws, explicitly stated that during the former regime, a part of the security sector was criminalized. This seriously raises the question of whether the President may have compromised with individuals connected to the compromised police cartel within the Police Directorate and the National Security Agency, as best evidenced by the statement of his former advisor (Dejan Vuksic") who claimed that he was blackmailed by, as he says, a person with ties to the Kavac criminal organization to withdraw his candidacy for judge of the Constitutional Court," Bogdanović told "Vijesti", adding that Milatović's "inconsistency" cannot be explained otherwise.

He recalls the case of the arrested businessman Aleksandar Mijajlović, who, he says, according to allegations by the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) published in the media, received secret police and ANB data, influenced police actions and, through a connected network, tried to influence the political and security situation in the country. In another case, he adds, the SDT also alleges the influence of criminal structures on the appointment of people close to them in the Police Administration. Therefore, Bogdanović claims, it is completely legitimate to say that in this discussion there are both well-intentioned criticisms and interest-based resistance to reforms.

"Which, in this case, dominate, and serious politics must distinguish between the two. In other words - the problem arises only when these two categories are deliberately mixed up. It is frivolous to close our eyes to the fact that part of the security sector has been deeply compromised and it would be politically naive to claim that organized crime has no interest in influencing the debate on laws that restrict it," the interlocutor concludes.

Tadić Mijović: The goal - a police state

Milka Tadić Mijović claims that those currently ruling Montenegro, instead of reforming the system, have only taken over the old one and further undermined it.

"The laws they just passed serve to create a party police force and maintain power before next year's elections, not to professionalize the security system and fight corruption," she claims.

Therefore, as she assessed, it is no wonder that they declare all those who warn about the dangers posed by these legal solutions as collaborators of crime.

"A government that is trying to silence critics like this by linking them to the mafia is dangerous and ready for anything. This should be kept in mind," stressed Tadić Mijović.

One example of labeling is the controversy between the Democrats and the executive director of the Human Rights Action (HRA). Tee Gorjanc Prelević in August last year. The Democrats did not stop at political disagreement, but publicly targeted her personally and tried to present her criticism as protection of controversial actors from the security sector. The conflict began over a Podgorica lawyer Veselin Radulovic, who represents several police officers suspended during the so-called vetting at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Radulović claims that under the pretext of "vetting", a crackdown is being carried out on police officers who do not answer to the Democrats.

In a statement, the Democrats claimed that Gorjanc Prelević was providing lawyer Radulović with a "political and media shield", and then accused her of "sharing a political and interest agenda with Milo Đukanović".

The Prime Minister's Europe Now Movement (PES) is also involved in labeling. Milojko SpajićAlthough more cautious than the Democrats, they have repeatedly responded to criticism with accusations that opposition actors have ties to the criminal and security structures of the former regime - from messages about "importing criminals for the purpose of preserving power" to claims that the DPS cannot distance itself from criminal structures.

Thus, in April 2024, the Civic Movement (GP) URA accused the PES of protecting organized crime by refusing to adopt the law on the confiscation of illegally acquired property, stating that the PES are “bigger protectors of criminal structures even than the DPS”. To this, the PES responded with the message: “The renewed cooperation between the GP URA and the DPS in the Parliament is nothing new, considering that 'Bemaks' once celebrated this cooperation with fireworks”.

PES recently responded to DPS's criticism that procedures were being violated in parliament and that they received the laws that were to be discussed the night before the session, saying that this was about "saving (Aco) Đukanović."

Spajić's party did not respond to "Vijesti's" questions about how they view the assessments of a part of the public that the government is increasingly declaring criticism as an attempt to protect criminal structures, whether they believe this is democratic and legitimate, and why they are not responding to criticism with arguments.

Nikola Mirković assesses that the fact that, in the absence of arguments, but also abilities, the government's constituents defend failures and bad intentions by attacking those who disagree with them - indicates an obvious decline in the level of political culture and commitment.

"Very wrong - that the means justify the end, and the end is mundane - merely preserving the seats," he adds.

When asked what consequences this attitude of the government towards criticism could have on civil society, the media and public debate, he replied that the climate in which civil society, and especially critical non-governmental organizations, operate is very hostile. The same, he added, applies to the media that have not “chosen a side” or have chosen the “wrong one”, as well as to all those who find some fault, “and there are many of them in this government”.

"Simply put, everyone is automatically characterized as subjects who threaten the future of Montenegro," he stated.

Bogdanović: It is legitimate to warn about the interest-based background of the resistance

Boris Bogdanović claims that it is legitimate to warn that part of the political and media resistance may also have an interest-based background, especially, he says, in a country where the SDT is conducting "such difficult cases about the connections between crime, the police, some of the media and the leakage of secret information."

Asked why they do not respond to criticism with arguments, he says that it is not true that they do not do so, and that, in the case of the two controversial laws, they have responded both politically and normatively.

"Normally, through amendments - Article 3 (Law on Internal Affairs) was deleted after consultations with the EC, the polygraph is linked to prior written consent, with a guarantee that its result cannot be the sole basis for a decision and that it cannot be evidence in criminal proceedings; the deadline for the ANB's opinion was changed from 60 to 90 days, and an obligation to comply with the Law on Personal Data Protection within six months was introduced. These are concrete changes to the text of the proposed law after well-founded and well-intentioned criticism," he states.

At the same time, he says, they respond with arguments and without avoiding the essence.

"The institution of security interference and the commission established by the minister were not invented by these amendments, but exist in the current law. The law passed five years ago formed a commission and introduced the institution of security interference, but apparently the top of the criminal octopus had guarantees that the norms would not be applied. This is the only possible explanation why critics are now criticizing what they adopted and proposed. And where were the others five years ago? Why didn't it bother them then, what bothers them now?" he asks.

Mirković: They are using the EU as a cloak to adopt both what is necessary and what is not necessary

Nikola Mirković assesses that the government now wants to seize the opportunity to adopt what is and what is not needed, under the guise of a "fast track" of EU integration, through parliamentary procedure, without public debate.

He states that non-transparency and lack of inclusiveness are reaching their peak, and that this way of adopting very important legal solutions is not democratic, nor does it carry a minimum of quality.

"We see that laws are changing at such a speed, sometimes even monthly," he adds, saying that, "regardless of the difficult conditions that are outside of democratic practices," it is extremely important that critical thought survives in Montenegro.

"I think that the resilience of civil society has been proven and that it will outlive this government," Mirković concluded.