ASK: The Minister of Finance with integrity would apologize to the citizens for the negligent work of his department

The Minister of Finance would apologize to citizens with integrity for the negligent work of his department, the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) announced.

Minister of Finance Novica Vuković yesterday again rejected the request of KAS director Jelena Perović to exempt the inspectors of the Budget Inspection Directorate who controlled KAS.

"We inform the interested public that certain institutions that are supposed to be our protectors and the foundation of a legally regulated state are ready to subvert and fabricate legal norms, to inaccurately present verifiable facts to the public, as well as to manipulate for the sake of always current political points. As we know that the professional public knows the legal postulates as well as the details of this case that they have the opportunity to see in the media, the goal of this announcement is to prevent the general public from being misled by untrue and twisted announcements from the Ministry of Finance and the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office expect them to present untrue information, cover up the unscrupulous work of their employees, and thus create a negative image of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and its director, Jelena Perović," the ASK statement reads.

Yesterday, the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office (VDT) announced that, by order of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), members of the Special Police Department (SPO) seized additional documentation from the ASK, in the case against Perović.

Before that, ASK announced that SPO members had "invaded" their premises, and that the reason for the "invasion" was according to the "response of the Special State Prosecutor's Office" after the decision of the Administrative Court.

KAS said in today's announcement that even less could be expected that the Minister of Finance would arbitrarily interpret the decision of the Administrative Court of Montenegro, bypassing the essence of the verdict, while at the same time providing protection to the illegal actions of the first associates.

"To clarify, the budget inspectors undertook the action of 'control inspection supervision', which is not prescribed by the Law on Inspection Supervision. During that non-existent action, they applied the institute of 'pointing out' contrary to the law, as the Administrative Court of Montenegro clearly pointed out to them. After that, they were passed and solutions that in themselves will never produce legal effect, because 'the fruits are poisonous.' is the chief budget inspector, a female economist with no work experience in these jobs. After the events of April 17, 2024 and the brutality during the arrest of the director of the ASK, which the citizens of Montenegro witnessed through a media exclusive, and after the illegal treatment of her minor daughter, it is senseless to it's not about ignorance," the ASK statement reads.

From that institution, they said that they believe that the supreme state prosecutor is not justified by inexperience, because, as they said, he accepted that he performs this responsible position professionally and honorably, so, as they said, it is not appropriate for him to tell falsehoods, because according to the claims of the ASK, material evidence they speak differently.

"Namely, the request on the basis of which the members of the Special Police Department re-entered the KAS yesterday bears the business designation of a case that was formed on the basis of the minutes of the budget inspection, Kti-S No. 12/24, just like the order on the investigation of April 7 2024. Therefore, it is not a matter of a newly formed case, which the same plaintiff has charged on the basis of an anonymous report, but of the continuation of the search for evidence to justify the unsustainability of the previous procedure on the CeJN website (website of the Ministry of Finance), and it was available to the SPO all the time. Does this indicate unnecessary communication between the VDT-SDT and the SPO? and every time until now," said iZ ASK.

They also state that they do not accept that "the VDT does not know how cases are formed in any prosecutor's office, what random assignment of cases means and what is the consequence of violating this rule, which is prescribed by the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office".

"In relation to the ASK, the SDT apparently has one prosecutor on duty, who otherwise cannot undertake criminal prosecution, in accordance with the current legislation, and whose work is personally controlled by the Supreme State Prosecutor. With formal exemptions, protection of negligent work, non-compliance with court decisions and positive regulations, the bearers of the responsible state functions, will not destroy the integrity and mission of ASK, but, we fear, their personal integrity and the integrity of the institution they lead. Their power may be great, but it is temporary and fleeting, but the right is permanent," the statement concluded.