Basic court again on the dismissal of Vuković

The Basic Court of Podgorica will again decide on the legality of the dismissal of the former director of the Electronic Media Agency (AEM). Goran Vuković.

That was decided by the High Court in Podgorica.

Previously, the Basic Court found that the Council of the Agency for Electronic Media (SAEM) illegally dismissed the duties of the former director.

Vuković was dismissed on August 12, 2022.

As it was announced at the time, the decision was the result of a procedure during which "it was established that Vuković did not meet the special conditions for election to the position of the Agency's director, which are prescribed by the Law on Electronic Media".

"During the election to the position of director of the Agency, as an integral part of the competition documentation, Goran Vuković also submitted a statement that there are no obstacles to his appointment, in terms of the provisions of the Law on Electronic Media. The statement did not correspond to the factual situation, so information important for decision-making in the director selection process was hidden in this way... The opinions of relevant state institutions, namely the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and the Directorate for Inspection Supervision, were requested and obtained. The procedure resulted in an unequivocal conclusion that Goran Vuković did not meet the conditions prescribed by the Law," SAEM announced at the time.

According to the SAEM assessment at the time, Vuković, during the competition procedure, had to report that his wife is a public official appointed by the Government, which he allegedly did not do.

The higher court found that "the conclusion of the first-instance court cannot be appreciated as correct".

"The first-instance court did not appreciate the evidence presented... and thus a comprehensive evaluation of the factual material was missing," states the decision of the High Court, which is signed by the judge Dejan Dragović.