MANS: The Administrative Court again ordered the inspection of Đukanović's property, the ASK has been ignoring the final verdict for two years

The non-governmental organization MANS said that at the end of last month, the Administrative Court, ruling on their request, again made a decision obliging the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) to carry out the legal procedure of checking the assets of the former President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović.

The first judgment on the lawsuit by MANS, as stated by that non-governmental organization, was handed down in 2021, but, according to them, the ASK has not implemented or responded to the Administrative Court's request to provide it with the case files on the case carried out so far check the assets of Đukanović.

"Back in April 2019, MANS submitted an initiative to KAS to start the procedure to determine whether Đukanović violated the Law on Prevention of Corruption when he omitted from the annual reports on income and assets the information that he owns a collection of wristwatches worth several million euros on the market The agency replied that the property reported by Đukanović fully corresponds to what was "registered in the official records of state bodies", but also failed to ask Đukanović for a statement about the origin of the expensive watches," the MANS statement reads.

It is added that, ruling on a lawsuit against such a decision of KAS, the Administrative Court rendered a verdict in favor of MANS in September 2021 and noted that the verification procedure by KAS was not carried out in accordance with the law, and ordered them to bring a new, legal solution.

"The verdict also states that the AKS was obliged to conduct the so-called "examination procedure and request a public official's statement", bearing in mind that it is about property for which records are not kept with the state authorities. As two years later, the AKS still did not execute the aforementioned verdict, MANS asked the Administrative Court to make a so-called meritorious decision - an administrative act that would replace the decision that ASK has been refusing to make for two years," MANS said.

They said that they were informed by the Administrative Court that they were unable to pass the mentioned administrative act because the ASK did not submit the case files related to the verification of Đukanović's property.

Instead, they add, the Administrative Court gave ASK another 30 days to implement the verdict from 2021 and start the legal procedure of checking Đukanović's assets.

"This kind of behavior of KAS when it comes to high state officials is another confirmation of doubts about the objectivity and impartiality of this institution, which is continuously indicated in the reports of relevant international institutions, including the European Commission. MANS will continue to monitor the work of KAS- and to insist that the Law on the Prevention of Corruption be equal for everyone, and that decision-making be subordinated to the public, and not to anyone's private or political interest," MANS concluded.