GP URA: We will submit the "anti-mafia" law to the parliamentary procedure again

The civic movement URA announced that it will resubmit the Bill on the Origin of Property, known as the "anti-mafia" law, to the parliamentary procedure, assessing that the ruling majority has lost valuable time in the fight against organized crime in the past three years.

"The ruling majority has been persistently refusing to adopt the "anti-mafia" law for three years, misleading citizens with the story that they have a ready-made solution, while at the same time rejecting the ready-made and applicable model proposed by the URA. By doing so, they have only given additional space to criminal structures to hide their illegally acquired assets from justice. That is why we will put our model back into the parliamentary procedure," the URA GP announced.

They recalled that they initiated the adoption of the Law on the Origin of Property back in 2020 and had proposed it to parliament on several occasions. However, as they stated, neither the then nor the current parliamentary majority were ready to support a solution that, in their opinion, would enable the efficient confiscation of property for which the legal origin cannot be proven.

In the meantime, as they point out, three years have been lost, and those who have acquired enormous wealth through criminal activities have been given enough time to hide it and protect it from domestic institutions.

"Without confiscating money acquired through criminal activities, there is no justice in Montenegro. The current legislation has yielded almost no results, and therefore we must open the possibility of civil proceedings in all cases in which the origin of the property cannot be proven. Money seized from crime should be directed towards the construction of schools, hospitals, kindergartens and other public needs of citizens," the URA Police Department said.

They added that they are not giving up on the principles they have been fighting for for over ten years and that, even from the opposition benches, they will continue to propose solutions that lead to the return, as they said, of everything that has been taken away from the state and its citizens in previous decades.

The URA Border Guard pointed out that the European Commission warns year after year about high corruption and the need for a more decisive fight against organized crime, and that the state no longer has the right to delay.

"This law represents one of the key tools in the fight against all those who have violated the laws of Montenegro for decades. That is why it is important today to establish a permanent and sustainable system that will enable future generations to effectively and decisively oppose all structures that are trying to deceive the state and its citizens," the statement concludes.