The Council of Radio and Television of Montenegro canceled the competition for public service ombudsman and does not have the courage to publicly announce that Vesna Pejović, the only candidate left in the competition, is not to their taste, but will prolong the election until she manages to "finally push in a predetermined friend President of the Council" Veselin Drljević.
This was stated in a joint letter by Vesna Pejović, Danijela Popović and Žarko Božović. Popović and Božović recently withdrew their candidacies for RTCG ombudsman in favor of Vesna Pejović. They addressed in writing the Office of the European Commission in Montenegro, the MEP and rapporteur for Montenegro Tonina Piculi, the Program Office of the Council of Europe in Podgorica, the OSCE Mission in Montenegro, the director of the media program of the OSCE Mission in Montenegro Evan Eberle and Radka Betčeva from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
"The RTCG public service has been without an ombudsman for more than three months - the protector of the rights of viewers, listeners and readers, more precisely citizens from whose pockets considerable sums of money are taken. He is absent by the will of the Council of that house. The third competition for this responsible position was, apparently automatically, canceled , and the explanation is that none of the candidates received a sufficient number of votes. To be honest, the only candidate who remained in the competition, after the withdrawal of candidacies and failure to meet the requirements of two candidates (Stijepović was rejected due to a technical error), is Vesna Pejović, a longtime editor of that house. which is also the initiator of the establishment of self-regulation, the first in Montenegro and one of the authors of the Code of Journalists of Montenegro," the letter states.
"The shameful Council does not have the courage to publicly announce that she is not to their taste, so the alleged vote, if there was any at all, was carried out without the presence of journalists who were informed that the Council session would remain open. The reason why they do not want Pejović's appointment is also known, because her engagement would soon the false idyllic image of the supposedly most watched media with balanced reporting, which is constantly promoted from that house, remained an enigma whether any of the members of the Council had an iota of sense not to join the majority," they added.
They said that the public service, "without any hesitation or fear, can make fun of you citizens, accuse you of anything without hindrance, extract words and edit sentences, according to someone's will, without any fear that anyone can call him out for it. or sanction".
"Thus, the anthem passed in silence without a tone. The questions and comments of the professor and a former member of the Council were mutilated. The program 'Our Decades, Satellite Program' also passed without reaction when the two former editors of that house were subjected to ridicule by drastically shortening the entire story. their appearance is meaningless. The list is long, and in all likelihood it will be even longer because the shameful, arrogant Council will prolong the election until it finally manages to push in a predetermined friend of the Council president, because of whom the conditions and even the Law, which this tragicomedy, have been changed, without a shred of shame, completes with application and withdrawal of application", it is written in the joint letter.
Pejović, Popović and Božović said that their first public address, after the withdrawal of the candidacy of the "business partner of the President of the Council", did not meet with any kind of reaction from the competent institutions in the country, except for the ombudsman Siniša Bjeković, "who announced himself as incompetent even though we did not ask him to protect us but the rights of citizens."
"The president of the country probably did not understand our Montenegrin, and the prime minister got tired of dealing with amendments to the law. We can also find justification for the relevant Ministry because of the occupation of the minister. The only thing is that there is no justification for the Directorate for Media, which is headed by our former colleague who believes that he redeemed himself with a public announcement that he was against changes to the law, but that did not prevent him from keeping the chair, which is more important than personal and professional reputation," they added.
They also state that the interview for the general director of RTCG showed "serious gaps-craters" in the education of "individual members" of the Council.
"We can tell the shameful Council in their language: 'We will argue again' and we will not give up. In the meantime, it would be good if some of its members, in addition to figuring out how to push a friend in, also study grammar, because the interview for the general director showed serious gaps-craters in their education. Such characters are given the right to decide and unlimited power to play with the reputation of the public service," it concludes.
Bonus video:
