Camović Veličković: The conditions have been met for Drljević to be dismissed from the post of president of the RTCG Council

The Vice-President of the Council of the Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG), Marijana Camović Veličković, announced that the conditions have been met for the President of the RTCG Council, Veselin Drljević, to be relieved of that position.

In the request for the dismissal of Drljević, which she submitted to the media, she stated that since Drljević did not convene the session on April 23, 2024, when the conditions for it were met and thus violated Article 14 of the Rules of Procedure of the Council, she considers that conditions for him to be dismissed from the position he covers and submits an initiative to the Council for his dismissal and requests that it be placed on the agenda of the next session as a separate item.

"I also emphasize that I am submitting the initiative in a timely manner compared to the date for which the next session was announced, which, according to the data I have at the time I am writing this, is Monday, May 27, 2024," said Camović Velićković.

In the explanation of the request, she stated that on April 22 of this year, by e-mail, she requested an urgent meeting of the Council and asked at least two more members of the Council to support her initiative in order to meet the requirements of Article 14 of the RTCG Rules of Procedure, which states "The Council meeting must be convened on request of at least three members of the Council".

"The initiative was supported that day by Mr. Predrag Miranović, and the next morning (April 23) by Mr. Predrag Marsenić, and in this way the conditions were met for the session to be convened. However, Council President Drljević refused to act according to the Rules of Procedure, and proposed an informal meeting and asked the members of the Council to express themselves in this way, putting pressure on them to change their clearly expressed opinion. At my all-day insistence, he first said that he would be out of Montenegro for the whole week, when I offered to lead the session as vice-president (in accordance with by the Rules of Procedure) he created himself in Montenegro and proposed a meeting. During the day, he stopped responding to my emails," pointed out Camović Veličković in her explanation.

She added that she requested the scheduling of the session a second time, on May 8, and that this request was also completely ignored and that Drljević never responded to it.

"I remind you that the reasons were the same both times - two first-instance verdicts of the Basic Court which say that the Council made an illegal decision on June 1, 2023 when it re-appointed Boris Raonic as General Director of RTCG because he was in a conflict of interest at the time of the appointment, and there is not even a requirement of ten years of work experience from the moment of obtaining a university degree. The consequences of the Council's illegal decisions had to be discussed at the sessions of that body, no matter how unpleasant the topic was for the members, whom Raonic had become close to during these three years," said Camović Veličković.

As evidence, she is attaching an email correspondence which, as she said, confirms her claims.

"I also emphasize that Article 11 paragraph 2 of the Rules of Procedure of the Council, which reads 'Sessions are held as needed and at least once a month', was also not respected because the need arose on April 22, more than a month has passed since the Council last met met on April 15 online, via the Zoom platform, in order to avoid the presence of the media and to cover up the Council's work as much as possible, which Drljević has been practicing for three years, since he has been the Council's president," said Camović Veličković.

According to her, the following article 12 of the Rules of Procedure, paragraph 3, was also violated, which obliges the public to "inform the public with a statement from the RTCG Council about the outcome of the regular session on the day of its conclusion", which, as Camović Veličković said, was not done even after the session held on April 15, as nor ever before.

"So, on this occasion, I am citing the violation of three articles of the Rules of Procedure and I think that this is more than enough reason for Drljević to be dismissed from the position of president of the RTCG Council," concluded Camović Veličković.