Tip: It is not good for police officers who abuse power and authority to advance or enjoy special trust

The Council for Citizen Control of Police Work announced that it is closely monitoring the case of police officer Vuk Vuković, who is also engaged in the direct duties of managing the security of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Montenegro, Danilo Saranović.

"It is not a good message that police officers who abuse power and authority, accused and convicted of abusing citizens, without corrective measures and additional training, advance in their careers or enjoy the special trust of decision-makers," the Council's announcement states.

They said that respecting the professional integrity and autonomy of all those who take care of the coordination of the schedule of these jobs and tasks within the Police Directorate, the Council has so far not publicly advertised, appreciating that it presented clear assessments on this occasion through the conclusion adopted on July 29, 2021.

"There was a particular belief in the Council that, due to the interest of the public, in relation to Mr. VV, data will be released that speak of the expression of regret in relation to what happened, corrective behavior, the necessary additional trainings that he attended in the meantime, especially those related to respect human rights, personal integrity and (self) control. However, all of that was missing," said the Council for Citizen Control of Police Work.

The council indicates that every citizen, when exercising police powers, has the right to be treated with dignity, responsibility and respect, regardless of what he is charged with or what he is associated with.

"Unfortunately, it will never be possible to eliminate the need for officers to use coercive means, but it is important through insisting on training, skill development and anger control that the use of force is always justified and proportionate. The Council, through a direct address to Minister Danilo Šaranović, indicated that insisting on a concrete personnel solution could have an unfavorable effect on the international reputation of the Government and the minister in charge, but also on cooperation with civil society organizations, which is important and necessary," the announcement reads.

The Council said that by publicly publishing the recording of the proceedings, it assessed that in the specific police intervention in Cetinje there was a completely unfounded and obvious excessive use of force by the police officer.

"His unprofessional behavior is recorded from the tenth second until the 19th second of the video. In further unprofessional behavior, the police officer was flagged down by his colleague, which is also evident on the video," the statement reads.

The Council stated that it will recommend that court rulings, evaluations and recommendations of the internal and civil control of the police and the Ombudsperson regarding abuse, as well as recordings held by the public and the media, be used more and more practically in police training.

On February 20, Action for Human Rights (HRA) protested Šaranović's decision to choose Vuković as his security chief.

At the time, HRA stated that Saranović's appointment of Vuković was "a slap in the face to the victims of police torture".

They also pointed out that they expect Šaranović to choose a person "who has proven himself as a highly professional police officer" instead of Vuković.