When prosecutors don't see 70 people: Đeka illegally employed DPS sympathizers

In nine months (April - December 2012), the Ulcinj Public Company Vodovod i Kanalizacija employed more than 70 people for an indefinite period without prior decision, application or public advertising.

Although this state-owned enterprise owed over 200 euros to the regional water supply supplier alone in that period, this did not prevent the then director Fatmir Đeka from illegally employing his party colleagues and sympathizers of the Democratic Party.

Neither the Special State Prosecutor's Office nor the Basic State Prosecutor's Office from Ulcinj noticed party employment in this case.

Andrija Ćetković, member of the Socialist People's Party and then member of the Management Board of the Waterworks, said for the purposes of this research, that party employment in that company and in the Municipality of Ulcinj is a practice that does not stop.

"Party employment has been very pronounced in the municipality for years and is a specialty of all political parties that have been in power in Ulcinj for the past decade," he pointed out, adding that this phenomenon would not have had "such momentum" if it had been sanctioned in a legal way at the start.

Part of the illegally employed workers at that time still work in this state-owned enterprise.

Ćetković clarifies that the damage caused by illegal employment in JP Vodovod i kanalizika is enormous.

"Just for personal income, it is above 35.000 euros on a monthly basis, and it is mainly about people without adequate qualifications and hired without a competition. The consequences of that illegal employment still cause enormous damage, because the number of employees is the reason why it is not possible to implement the KfW loan, and loan annuities are paid at the annual level of 128.000 euros," said Ćetković.

This loan was approved back in 2015 and is intended for the construction of the sewerage and water supply network in Ulcinj.

Official data of the Police Directorate show that in 2014, officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs from the Department for the Fight against Organized Crime filed a criminal complaint against Fatmir Đeka, the then president of the Municipality of Ulcinj, due to the suspicion that, while he was the director of the Ulcinj Waterworks, he abused his official position and committed financial damage to this company. The police then suggested to the prosecutor's office that they initiate a financial investigation.

For research purposes, the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) said that this case was established in the Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT) in Ulcinj, but that the files were also delivered to them.

"Files of the case formed on the basis of a criminal report against Fatmir Đeka due to the grounds of suspicion that as the director of JP Vodovod i kanalizacija Ulcinj he committed a criminal offense - abuse of official position... The Special State Prosecutor's Office on 24.05.2016 submitted for further action to the Basic State Prosecutor's Office Ulcinj, since no evidence was collected in the investigation procedure that would indicate that the reported actions contained elements of a criminal offense under the jurisdiction of the Special State Prosecutor's Office", said this institution in response to the question - whether in launched a financial investigation into this case.

It is unclear, however, how SDT did not see that they are competent in this case, bearing in mind that their work includes abuse of official position and fraud in the service. Examples of party employment in this case are more than obvious and easily verifiable, and almost all employees are connected to Đeka's party.

Ilir Đoni, Fitim Dragović, Šaban Kasneci, Smajl Kalezić... are persons who in this period were employed in JP Vodovod i kanalizacija and are members of the Main or Municipal Committees of Đeka's party.

Some of the names contained in the Decision on the dismissal of the criminal complaint against Fatmir Đeka are on the lists for the election of deputies in the Parliament of Montenegro, as well as on local election lists.

Even the Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT) in Ulcinj did not notice that Đeka, in addition to illegally employing, also employed his party colleagues.

Some of the names contained in the Decision on the Dismissal of the Criminal Charge against Fatmir Đeka are on the lists for the election of MPs in the Parliament of Montenegro, as well as on local election lists.

Feriha Muratović, the former and current head of the ODT Ulcinj, explains that the SDT returned the case and suggested that the collected evidence points to the suspect's illegal actions in the direction of committing criminal offenses against labor rights, and that these actions of Fatmir Đeka do not contain elements of other criminal offenses under the jurisdiction of the SDT "both objective due to the absence of consequences and subjective due to the failure of the suspect's intentions".

ODT Ulcinj postponed the criminal prosecution against the then President of the Municipality of Ulcinj, Fatmir Đeka, and fined him EUR 1.200.

By paying this sum of money to a local institution for children with developmental disabilities, he avoided court proceedings.

The crime he was charged with was "violation of equality in employment".

In the explanation of the decision dismissing the criminal charges against the current leader of the Democratic Party, it is stated that "it would not be expedient to conduct criminal proceedings against him, bearing in mind the nature of the criminal act, the circumstances under which it was committed, his earlier life and personal characteristics".

Councilor Ćetković claims that the fine that Fatmir Đeka paid in this case only encouraged others to continue with the same practice.

"The consequences are the financial instability of the Municipality and overrepresentation in all local companies and the municipal administration, which is one of the most ineffective in Montenegro. On the other hand, the consequences are that those who employ illegally in election races get more and more votes, and those who point out the illegality get less and less".

The Democratic Party of Fatmir Đeka won seven mandates in the recently held elections in Ulcinj and is a serious candidate for forming a coalition at the local level. Fatmir Đeka's earlier management of the Secretariat for Finances of the Municipality of Ulcinj, as well as the Municipality of Ulcinj, was accompanied by a series of abuses.

Adequate reaction of the competent state authorities was absent in both cases.

Fatmir Đeka: There was no party recruitment

Fatmir Đeka claims that in this case everything was according to the law and that it was necessary to hire new workers.

"According to me, there was no illegal recruitment, there was no recruitment based on party affiliation, as you can see for yourself. For your information, the company split on 31.05.2012/XNUMX/XNUMX. from the joint PU Ulcinj to two companies: JP Water and Sewerage and JP Municipal Services, and that was the reason for the increase in the number of employees," he explained.

The content is solely the responsibility of the author and in no way reflects the views of "Vijesti", donors and NGO "35mm". The texts were created within the project "Fairness and not bias - Eradicate cronyism!" (Fairness and not bias - let's eradicate cronyism) which is realized within the project "Accountability Technology and Institutional Openness Network in South East Europe - ACTION SEE". Project is implemented by Metamorphosis Foundation, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, CRTA - Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability, Citizens Association Why not?, Center for Democratic Transition, Open Data Kosovo (ODK) and Levizja Mjaft!. This project is funded by the European Union.