The president of the "Breznica" Ecological Society, Milorad Mitrović, said that by abandoning the criminal prosecution of those accused of mass fish deaths, the weakness of the prosecution-judicial system was shown, which should be much more serious in collecting evidence and prosecuting the perpetrators.
The primary state prosecutor in Pljevlja, Milivoje Tomčić, gave up two days ago the criminal prosecution of Elektroprivreda Crne Gore and four executives at Thermal Power Plant Pljevlja, whom he accused of killing a large amount of fish in the Vezišnica and Ćehotina rivers on July 5, 2019, after the discharge of wastewater from landfill Maljevac. Tomčić gave up the lawsuit, because he believes that the further presentation of evidence was a waste of time and the creation of additional costs, given that expert witness Snežana Didanović, on whose findings the indictment was based for the most part, stated at the trial in the Basic Court of Pljevlja that she does not fully agree with his findings on the causes that led to the death of a large amount of fish.
"Relinquishing the criminal charges is absolving both the Basic Court and the perpetrators of this, otherwise traditionally common procedure and act of the EPCG, because they did what everyone did for the previous almost 40 years. So we are not surprised by the actions of prosecutor Tomčić, because he will be remembered as the only prosecutor who persecuted environmental activists, sent them to prison, and released polluters from responsibility. The small number of prosecuted cases in the area of environmental crime is worrying. We have an ecological state, but we have no prosecuted perpetrators," Mitrović said.
The NGO "Legalis" from Pljevlja believes that the withdrawal of the main state prosecutor from the criminal prosecution of the accused for the environmental incident, which caused an unprecedented fish kill in the Ćehotina river, means that Montenegrin society and the legal system have reached rock bottom. This decision, they point out in that NGO, proves that the prosecution and the judiciary are not independent and that they are under the influence of the powerful, in this case under the influence of the outgoing management of EPCG. They called on the authorities in the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism to review the expertise, independence and work of their official Snežana Didanović.
"This court epilogue sends a bad image to the public and calls into question the declaration of Montenegro as an ecological state. The court expert, the prosecution and the judiciary have shown that ecology and environmental protection in Pljevlje are not important to them and that they had to please the outgoing powerful people from Elektroprivreda who have been destroying the environment in Pljevlje for decades. Environmental expert Snežana Didanović suddenly and without any valid arguments refuted her earlier finding when she stated that the fish die-off was caused by the discharge of waste water from the Maljevac landfill, where the Termoelektrana has been dumping ash and slag for 37 years. Didanović said at the trial that, after the presented evidence and testimony, the cause of the fish's death cannot be reliably determined. The question arises, why did Didanović suddenly change her original findings and opinion? "Why and how the environmental expert changed his mind is certainly the subject of investigation by other authorities, but judging by the initial reactions of the competent institutions, this case has been put to an end, and the prosecution and the judiciary have failed the test of independence and impartiality," the NGO claims.
The refusal of the prosecutor in Pljevlja to prosecute EPCG and the managers of the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant for Democratic Montenegro is a scandalous act and a mockery of law as science, justice, the Montenegrin judicial system and Montenegro as a declaratively ecological state.
"After the expert witness, on whose interpretation the indictment was largely based, suddenly changed her testimony, and in the new hearing she stated that she does not stand by the position she had just a year before, it is clear to every well-intentioned citizen that the representatives of the state in the state, EPCG, mixed their fingers in the case, trying to wash the blame from their name and minimize their own responsibility. Despite the fact that it is clear to everyone whose responsibility is the fish kill and that all the citizens of Pljevlja know how the Pljevlja TPP works, after the board of directors of EPCG expressed regret for the environmental disaster a few days after the incident and thus admitted responsibility, after the managers TE explained that the discharge of waste water has been working this way for decades, we see that when it comes to the criminal responsibility of EPCG and their outgoing leadership, one plus one is not always two and that we cannot rely on the conscience and acknowledgment of guilt of the energy lobby that has been destroying the health of the people of Pljevlja for decades." it was announced from the Pljeval Committee of Democratic Montenegro.
They called on the competent institutions to investigate and devote themselves to this case in more detail because, as they stated, "there is a suspicion of serious corruption, construction and distortion of the factual situation for the sake of absolving the responsibility of EPCG representatives".
"At the end of the day, this nonchalant treatment of the environmental disaster represents a very negative message in the accession negotiations in the EU accession process and the closure and resolution of Chapter 27. We can only hope, expect and exert pressure that the disastrous relationship of EPCG towards Pljevlje will change with the election of a new leadership. and that in the same way those responsible for causing the ecological disaster in July 2019, which devastated the plant and animal fund of the two rivers of Pljevlja, should be punished", concludes the announcement of the Pljevlja Democrats.
It's a shame that it all depends on whether it's a coke bottle or fanta
By abandoning the criminal prosecution for the fish kill in Ćehotina, the judiciary and the prosecutor's office sent a clear message that they are incapable of properly prosecuting the case to the end and punishing the polluter.
This is stated in the reaction of Coalition 27, which is made up of environmental NGOs.
"So, the water polluters are free to poison all the fish and release whatever they want and justify that the inspector's sample was taken in a Coca Cola or Fanta bottle and not a sterile bottle. Apart from the shame of Montenegro, the case in which tons of fish died without criminal responsibility being established, it is an indicator of stagnation in the field of water quality and responsibility for damage to the environment on the way to closing the negotiated Chapter 27 - Environment".
Bonus video:
