The Council of the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data and Free Access to Information (AZLP) dismissed Ivan Medojević today, and appointed former director Čedomir Mitrović as acting director.
The council discussed the dismissal of Medojević, "Vijesti" learned, under the "miscellaneous" item.
According to the same information, the Council meeting was allegedly held without the presence of President Željko Rutović.
Zoran Vujičić and Muhamed Gjokaj are also members of that body.
Unofficially, Medojević was dismissed due to an alleged conflict of interest, as his wife was appointed adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister for the political system, judiciary and anti-corruption last month.
Medojević confirmed to "Vijest" that Hana Medojević is his wife, denied a conflict of interest and said that the Personal Data Protection Act does not prescribe conditions for the dismissal of a director, and that the director of AZLP concludes an employment contract, in accordance with the Labor Act.
The Council of the Agency has not yet responded to the newsroom about the basis for Medojević's dismissal.
Two days ago, they said that they would ask for his statement, "and in accordance with the law, take a position on the matter in question and inform you and the public in a timely manner."
According to the words of the former director, in the meantime the council asked for a statement, but did not respect the three-day deadline that Medojević was given to make a statement. In the meantime, they scheduled a meeting, at which Medojević was dismissed.
Last month, on November 16, the government appointed Hana Medojević as adviser to the deputy prime minister for the political system, judiciary and anti-corruption. "Vijesti" previously asked AZLP director Ivan Medojević whether her appointment created the conditions for his resignation, in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act.
Medojević said that the Law on the Protection of Personal Data specifies restrictions for the appointment to the position of president and members of the Council of the Agency, that one of the restrictions is that a person who is the spouse of a person who is a deputy or councilor, member cannot be appointed as the president or a member of the Council. Government or a person appointed or appointed by the Government of Montenegro and that the same restrictions are prescribed for the appointment of directors.
The same Law, he added, also prescribes the conditions for the dismissal of the president or a member of the Council, but not the manner and conditions for the dismissal of the Agency's director.
"The Law on the Protection of Personal Data, in the part of the dismissal of the president or a member of the Council, is lex specialis, which means that no other legal regulations are applied, while the issue of dismissal and conditions for the dismissal of directors is not prescribed or regulated by the Law on the Protection of Personal Data, but by the Law on work," he said.
This, he added, "is due to the fact that the director, unlike the president and members of the Council, concludes an employment contract for a certain period of time, i.e. for a period of four years".
"Which contract regulates his rights and obligations, as well as the consequences of violating work obligations, and based on the general collective agreement and the Labor Law, and even the measures that result from the violation of work obligations - fines and termination of employment, of course through established liability and through the appropriate procedure. Therefore, there is no application of the analogy in these two cases," Medojević told "Vijesta".
In concrete terms, he added, there is also a difference between the working legal status of the president and members of the Council on the one hand, and the director on the other."
"This is due to the fact that the president and members of the Council do not conclude a work contract with the employer, so that due to the violation of work obligations, they can be dismissed, through the determination of responsibility and through the appropriate procedure. On the contrary, they are appointed and dismissed by the Assembly. And that is precisely why the intention legislator, due to the impossibility to solve this issue in accordance with the provisions of the law regulating labor relations, to prescribe these relations, which concern the grounds for dismissal, in relation to the Council, in the Law on the Protection of Personal Data, which is the lex specialis", Medojević said.
As he said, this is not the first case of illegal dismissal of the AZLP director.
"...Because the Council of the Agency in 2015, by a majority of votes, with individuals who, unfortunately, were still in the Council, already illegally dismissed the director, and that the citizens paid for these illegalities with their own money with over 50.000 euros, without determining who responsibilities", said Medojević to "Vijesta".
In 2015, the council dismissed Bojan Obrenović, and appointed Čedomir Mitrović in his place. The Montenegrin courts made a final decision that Obrenović was illegally dismissed.
Bonus video:
