Darko Stijepović from Žablja filed a criminal complaint with the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) against the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Development of the North, Damjan Ćulafić, due to the existence of well-founded suspicions of abuse of official position, autocracy, obtaining unfair property benefits for himself or others, negligent work in the service and trade influence.
The application was also filed against the members of the commission for the selection of eco-ambassadors formed by Minister Ćulafić.
"The suspect Damjan Čulafić, as the Minister of the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Development of the North, ordered the publication of a Public Call to non-governmental organizations on October 22, 10, without previously established criteria, which are based and founded on the basis of legal regulations and by-laws. proposing an Eco-ambassador for 2024, referring to the Law on NGOs of Montenegro, more precisely to its Article 2024b. which refers to the financing of projects and programs of non-governmental organizations, which reads: Committee for the distribution of funds - Article 32b. The distribution of funds for financing projects and programs of non-governmental organizations in a certain priority area of public interest, determined in accordance with Article 32, paragraph 324 of this law, as well as in the area referred to in Article 6, paragraph 32 of this law, is decided by the committee for the distribution of funds to non-governmental organizations which is formed by the state administration body responsible for that area, on the basis of a public competition. The commission consists of a president and two members, of whom the president and one member are civil servants in the state administration body from paragraph 5 of this article, and the other member is a representative of non-governmental organizations operating in a certain priority area of public interest. The selection of representatives of non-governmental organizations in the commission is carried out in accordance with the act of the Government regulating the selection of representatives of non-governmental organizations in working groups and other working bodies formed by state administration bodies", Stijepović states in the application submitted to the Supreme Prosecutor's Office and the Department for the fight against crime. department for the fight against corruption, economic crime and conducting financial investigations.
Stijepović also claims that the representative of non-governmental organizations in the commission cannot participate in deciding on the application for the public competition from Article 32v of this law, which was submitted by the non-governmental organization that proposed him as the representative of non-governmental organizations in the commission.
"If the non-governmental organizations referred to in paragraph 2 of this article do not propose their representative as a member of the commission or the elected representative of the non-governmental organizations cannot participate in the decision-making in terms of paragraph 4 of this article, the second member of the commission shall be a civil servant from the state administration body referred to in paragraph 1 of this member. The commission ceases its work after the realization, or the expiration of the deadline for the realization of projects, that is, programs that are included in the decision on the distribution of funds from Article 32ž paragraph 1 of this law, which was adopted by that commission. The suspect Ćulafić, as a minister, formed a commission for the selection of Eco-ambassadors from the employees of the Ministry he manages, which did not adopt the Rules of Procedure, nor was the Regulation on the selection of NGO representatives in the composition of working bodies respected or applied. and which carried out the selection and appointment of Eco-ambassadors completely contrary to the provisions of the cited article of the Law to which they referred, which provides for the distribution of financial resources to non-governmental organizations, and not to natural persons, as it is done in this case and with this public invitation," the application states.
The violation of legal provisions is also reflected in the fact that, during the formation of the commission for the selection of Eco-ambassadors, the legal obligation was not respected, that the Public Call for the selection of representatives of NGOs to the composition of the commission was published on the website of the Ministry, on the portal of the E Administration and at least one printed media. therefore, in this way, the Regulation on the election of NGO representatives to the working bodies of state administration bodies and the implementation of public hearings in the preparation of laws and strategies was violated.
"The suspect Ćulafić and public authorities (members of the commission) during the selection and appointment of candidates did not act in accordance with the Regulation on the election of representatives of non-governmental organizations to the working bodies of state administration bodies and the conduct of public hearings in the preparation of laws and strategies, Article 7 of which clearly mandates that non-governmental organizations when submitting a candidate, organizations must attach a statement that the candidate is not a member of a political party, a public official, a leading person or a civil servant, i.e. an employee. Since the procedure was not carried out in an adequate and legal manner, it follows that the entire procedure is legally null and void, and the decision that was made was completely illegal, which contains several elements of being a criminal offense. It is obvious that the appointed public officials - from the commission of the Ministry - grossly violated this Regulation, because among the appointed Eco-ambassadors, at least three are public officials and civil servants and state employees, some of whom are even members of the governing bodies of political parties, presidents councils of local public broadcasters and the like, but the members of the commission did not check these facts either, and they were under a legal obligation to do so, but contrary to the current legal regulations, they made a disputed decision on the selection," the application states.
He states that on December 18, 12, the elected and appointed Eco-ambassadors, as natural persons, contrary to legal regulations, signed a contract to receive the amount of 2024 euros with the Ministry, although some of them are civil servants and state employees, employed in local administrations or are members of the management structures of political parties and public officials, which represents a gross violation of the applicable legal regulations.
"The damage caused to the state of Montenegro in this illegal way is in the amount of at least 60 euros. One of the elected and appointed Eco-Ambassadors, Alen Suljević, is an employee in the Municipality of Bijelo Polje, more precisely in the Secretariat for Rural Development, he is a member and activist of the OO Bosniak Party, and also a member of the Municipal Committee of the Bosniak Party. Another example of an elected and appointed Eco Ambassador is a public official - Vaso Knežević, who is also an official in the Municipality of Pljevlja, employed in the Secretariat for Housing, Communal Affairs, Traffic and Water, president of the Pljevlja Radio and Television Council, president of the Golobinja Local Community, he was a member of at least two political party, which he allegedly left. In addition, he is also the founder of several local non-governmental organizations that supported him in this case, or suggested him. Another in a series of evidences of the violation of valid legal regulations and the commission of criminal acts, in this particular case, is the Opinion of the departmental Ministry of Regional Investment Development and Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations, which, upon inquiry, gave an interpretation and opinion on 000 December 17, which confirms the allegations from this criminal report," Stijepović states in the report.
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