Clues lead to DPS

Andrija Ćetković, a member of the Non-Governmental Organization "Montenegro Patriotic Thought", who submitted a request to the Capital City for a stage for the "Patriotic Gathering", is a former member of the Youth Council of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and one of the administrators of the official DPS Viber group, through which he sent an invitation to participate in the event held on September 6 at Independence Square in Podgorica.

Ćetković yesterday, through a private company and an NGO, denied all the connections that "Vijesti" asked him about, but later in a telephone conversation, he confirmed everything, including his involvement in Milo Đukanović's party.

He said, however, that he did not break the law, that his NGO did not set up a stage for the "Patriotic Gathering" and that they complied with the decision of the Secretariat for Communal Affairs and Traffic. who refused the stage request, but - the day after the event was organized with, as the Police Administration said at the time, the presence of 50.000 visitors.

"Vijesti" announced two days ago that Ćetković, on behalf of the NGO "Montenegro Politika Misao", submitted a request to the Secretariat for Communal Affairs of the Capital City to set up a stage to hold a "Patriotic Gathering". This information is stated in the documentation sent to the newsroom from the Capital City, in response to a request for free access to information (SPI). The documents show that Ćetković submitted the request on September 3, and that on September 7, the day after the meeting was held, the Secretary of the Secretariat, Marko Rakočević, who also attended the event, signed the decision and rejected the request of the NGO "Montenegro Political Thought".

Andrija Ćetković, a member of that NGO, is also the founder of the graphic design company "Infinity Marketing". According to the data of the Central Register of Business Entities (CRPS), the company is located at the same address that is listed for that NGO in the records of non-governmental organizations in Podgorica of the Ministry of Public Administration (MJU). "Infinity Marketing" also uses the same phone number, with which Ćetković was registered as an administrator of the DPS Viber group.

In order to confirm whether it is the same person, "Vijesti" sent questions to the company's email address yesterday.

The company denied having any cooperation with NGOs.

"You sent these questions to the company 'Infinity Marketing', which has no cooperation with the NGO CPM and did not participate, in any way, in the organization of the 'Patriotic Gathering'. We assume that you can try to get the answers to your questions from the NGO CPM, and we found their email address on the FB page", says the company's response.

The query was also forwarded to the NGO, and in their answers to the newsroom, they skipped questions about the connection with the private company and whether Andrija Ćetković from that NGO is also the owner of the private company and the administrator of DPS's Viber group. Ćetković himself confirmed this later in a telephone conversation.

"One of the members of the NGO CPM is 03.09.2020. submitted a request on behalf of the organization, only and exclusively for setting up the stage for the gathering planned for 06.09.2020. The goal of this gathering was to peacefully and symbolically express a patriotic attitude towards the state of Montenegro, its symbols and anti-fascist heritage. These values ​​are also the basic principles that our NGO stands for and fights for, accordingly we had the desire to participate in the organization of the meeting", writes the NGO's answers.

They also state that after submitting the request, until the day of the meeting, they did not receive a positive response from the authorities.

"Consequently, after submitting the request, we did not perform any preparatory activities, including those you mention in your questions, and we did not participate in the organization of the meeting in any way. Any political context you are trying to impute is incorrect. Until now, as an NGO, we have not had joint projects with any political party, nor any state institution", the NGO told "Vijesta".

"Vijesti", among other things, asked the company "Infinity Marketing" and the NGO "Crnogorska politika misao" whether they cooperate with the DPS, in what capacity and on what tasks.

Ćetković contacted the journalist with a message on Viber, stating that he was still available. After the repeated question whether his company, or he privately, was engaged in any work for DPS, he called and in a telephone conversation, confirmed everything previously denied - that he is the founder of the NGO and the owner of "Infinitiy Marketing", as well as that he is the administrator DPS account on Viber. "One of the administrators," he emphasized.

Ćetković's name appears in the DPS news archive at the end of November 2019. Then it was announced that as a member of the Youth Council he participated in the "Progressive Leadership" seminar, organized by the "Friedrich Ebert Stiftung", which took place in Belgrade, Budva and Zagreb in the period from June to November. Ćetković founded the company in July last year. The NGO "Montenegro politika misao", according to the data of the Ministry of Justice, was founded in March. The first content was published on the NGO's Facebook page on August 27. It is a link from the "Standard" portal.

"The NGO 'Montenegro Political Thought', with the attached video, warns that on August 30, we must go to the elections at any cost, because on that day we are defending what is ours and inviolable. Finally, on Sunday we will say loudly, and once and for all - hands off Montenegro", the text reads, among other things. The attached video "Retrospective of the attempted demolition of Montenegro by the DF and the church" was shared later on the same day and as an independent content on Facebook and the NGO.

Apart from Ćetković, who submitted a request for a stage, it is not known to this day whether and who registered the "Patriotic Gathering". According to the Law on Public Gatherings and Events, public events and performances are reported at least five days before the day of the event. The Police Administration, however, has not yet responded to the questions and request of "Vijesti" for SPI on that topic.

On the day of the rally, UP announced that there were 50.000 visitors at the event, and previously, while the gathering was going on, they also reported that "columns of vehicles with citizens from the direction of Nikšić, Danilovgrad and Cetinje are still arriving".

Two weeks before that, the approaches to Podgorica were blocked, and the UP said that "citizens with vehicles and iconography" prevented the smooth flow of traffic. UP also announced that on that day, "criminal acts were registered in violation of the measures of the Ministry of Health on preventing the spread of the coronavirus by gathering a large number of citizens, not respecting physical distance and not wearing protective masks."

Both then, and on September 6, the measure of the National Coordination Body against Infectious Diseases (NKT) was in force, according to which "the gathering of citizens for the purpose of holding public events and other cultural and artistic manifestations and festivals" is limited to a maximum of 100 people.