Serious murderers, drug dealers and members of organized criminal groups who have been convicted cannot be amnestied, the Parliament decided.
On the proposal of SNP MP Aleksandar Damjanović, the Parliament passed the Law on Amnesty, and the majority of MPs were against the Government's amendments - to amnesty the perpetrators of the most serious crimes.
The government's amendments were supported only by the MPs of the DPS. SDP MPs voted against the law as a whole, with the exception of Džavid Šabović.
In contrast to the amendments of the representatives of the executive power, the proposals of Positive Montenegro were adopted, which demanded that those convicted of criminal offenses - unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs and facilitating the consumption of narcotic drugs, as well as those convicted of criminal indebtedness and the creation of a criminal organization.
"This example also shows that this government is favorable towards the most cruel murderers and criminals. From this it can be logically assumed, and perhaps factually, that the authors of this proposal want to help or release criminals."
After Damjanović's amendment - that the amnesty does not apply to those who have committed serious murder, several hundred convicts went on strike for several days in the Spuška prison.
On the other hand, after the Government's amendment, the relatives of the victims of those who were legally convicted of serious murders protested on the plateau in front of the Assembly.
Some of them told journalists that they would take justice into their own hands if the state persisted in reducing the prison terms of the murderers.
"MPs should be aware of the consequences that will be produced by the adoption of the Government's amendment. They should understand that by adopting it, a situation will be created in which the revolted families of the victims will carry out justice with blood revenge, and that will not bring good to anyone," Slavica Šćekić said the day before the adoption of the law , sister of murdered police inspector Slavoljub Šćekić.
Danijela Pavićević, the sister of the murdered editor of "Dana" Duško Jovanović, then, in a statement to the public, assessed that the Government is strongly committed to creating the conditions for pardoning the perpetrators of the most serious crimes.
"This example also shows that this government is favorable towards the cruelest murderers and criminals. From this it can be logically assumed, and perhaps factually, that the authors of such a proposal want to help or release criminals, executors of the orders of the most serious crimes, and push it all through the parliamentary procedure," she said.
Even those convicted of rape, fornication, bigamy, war crimes against civilians, extramarital cohabitation with a minor, domestic violence cannot count on amnesty.
Before the plenum, the Committee for the Political System passed the government's amendment, which was supported by SDP MPs Rifat Rastoder and Draginja Vuksanović, among others.
Vuksanović told "Vijesta" that she mistakenly supported the coalition partner's proposal, thinking, as she said, that she was voting for the proposal of Azra Jasavić, MP for Positive Montenegro.
After the parliamentary session, she explained to "Vijesta" why the SDP did not support the Amnesty Law at the plenum.
"The SDP believes that this is not the moment for that, if we have the proclaimed intention of the state to confront organized crime and corruption. We have a worryingly high percentage of suspended sentences and sentences below the legal minimum and, as if that were not enough, we propose amnesty every two or three years. That is a very ugly message for victims of criminal acts and their families. SDP supports the introduction of alternative sanctions," said Vuksanović.
The government cares about equality
Assistant to the Minister of Justice, Slavica Rabrenović, said that those convicted of serious murder must be treated equally with other convicts, explaining the Government's proposal that the amnesty also applies to the perpetrators of the most serious crimes.
She said at the Committee for the Political System that those convicted of attempted murder have been amnestied twice so far.
"I sympathize with the victims' families, but equality must still be taken care of. I know that they will always be executioners for the injured families, but justice must be taken care of."
She announced that 25 people convicted of aggravated murder, nine for attempted murder and 46 for murder are incarcerated in the Spuška prison.
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