The Association of Judges of Montenegro announced today that it condemns as impermissible and inappropriate the statements of the spokesman of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Miloš Nikolić and the Citizens' Initiative (GU) on May 21 regarding the acquittal in the "coup d'état" case and indicates that such statements violate the principle of division state authorities and undermines judicial independence.
"On the occasion of the announcement by the Spokesman of the Democratic Party of Socialists, Miloš Nikolić, on the X platform, which was fully reported by the Montenegrin media, and in which it is stated: 'Remember this man well. This is judge Zoran Radović, who betrayed the state interests of Montenegro with today's verdict and overthrew it in an unprecedented way. legal system. After his decision, the Montenegrin judiciary no longer exists', as well as the announcement of the Citizens' Initiative '21 May' published on the 'News' portal on 14.07.2024 July XNUMX, in which it is stated, among other things, that the acquittal in the case of 'state strike', the professional defeat of the Montenegrin judiciary, and that the entire process testifies to professional disorganization within the acting courts, the Association of Judges of Montenegro considers it necessary to react, because it condemns such statements as impermissible and inappropriate and indicates that such statements violate the principle of the division of state power and undermines judicial independence," the statement of the Association of Judges points out.
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They added that they had previously pointed out that "the inappropriate rhetoric that some Montenegrin politicians use when they take it upon themselves to comment on the work of the courts, although often their criticisms are not only not professional and competent, but are nothing more than a malicious attempt to score political points ".
"The Association of Judges is open and invites the professional and lay public to criticize the work of the courts, but that criticism must be well-intentioned and supported by facts, if we are talking about state interests. And those who really care about state interests, and are doing or have done government in Montenegro, they should know that state interests are not defended by postings on internet platforms, nor by announcements full of subjective views, but by concrete steps such as the construction of the Palace of Justice, education of current and future judges, strengthening of the school system, improvement of working conditions judges, enabling judicial independence in the true sense of the word, which is first of all recognized in the increase of wages and the regulation of housing issues, etc., the press release says
The Association of Judges said that it is obvious that the interests of political parties often do not coincide with the interests of legality and justice.
"But politics is not something that can influence, nor will we allow it to influence the work of judges. Every judge's decision must be correct and legal, and in order to reach such a conclusion, it must also go through the appeals process. The verdict in the case known as 'Coup ' has only been announced orally, it has not yet been sent in writing, and the dissatisfied parties will have the right to appeal, after which we will receive the final decision of the higher instance - specifically the Appellate Court of Montenegro. For this reason, commenting on the non-final verdict and targeting the acting judges is final inappropriate and out of place, and as such inadmissible," the announcement states.
The Association of Judges said that Montenegrin judges do not have time for arguing on social networks, nor for issuing counter-statements, because they are overwhelmed with thousands of cases, and that they do their work in almost inhumane conditions and with minimal wages.
"However, regardless of everything, there is no need to fear for the Montenegrin judiciary, it exists and will exist, no matter how much it bothers someone or not, and its existence is witnessed daily by thousands of decisions of Montenegrin judges, who exercise their calling honorably and legally. At the same time, we invite all public employees, especially politicians, to carefully choose the words with which they refer to the work of the judicial branch of government in the future and in this way contribute to the development and strengthening of the independent judiciary of Montenegro, because this is something that is expected of them, just as everyone should dedicate themselves results in the field he deals with," the announcement concludes.
On July 12, Andrija Mandić, Milan Knežević and the others were acquitted of charges in the case known as "coup d'état", that is, attempted terrorism on the day of the 2016 parliamentary elections.
The verdict was pronounced by the Council of the High Court in Podgorica headed by Zoran Radović.
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