The courts were more than prompt in cases in which one of the parties to the proceedings was the former director of the Anti-Corruption Agency (AKP). Jelena Perović, so yesterday they announced two verdicts in her favor.
Thus, yesterday, the Administrative Court published a statement on the verdict it issued on May 16, following the conclusion of the hearing on the lawsuit filed by the public official against the ASK Council for illegal dismissal.
Just three days earlier - on May 27th, from the institution he heads Miodrag Pešić "Vijesti" was told that "the hearing in that case was concluded on May 16, 5, and the decision will be made within the legal deadline of 2025 days."
The deadlines were respected by both the Basic Court and the judge. Dragan Lubarda, before which Podgorica prosecutors and Perović's defense presented their closing arguments on Monday, May 26. Yesterday, the first-instance court ruled that Perović did not evade taxes when selling an 87-square-meter apartment in Cetinje that she obtained on favorable terms.
"This case demonstrates the unusually high efficiency of the judiciary. While citizens have been waiting for justice for years, two verdicts in Perović's favor were announced, interestingly, on the same day," the director of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) told "Vijesti". Vanja Ćalović Marković.
The Higher Court in Podgorica recently confirmed the indictment of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) against the former director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and her former assistant. Nina Paović for the criminal offenses of abuse of official position and the continued criminal offense of forgery of an official document...
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“When armchairs are more important than principles”
Ćalović Marković also asked how many "cases like this need to happen before the current government finally starts vetting the judiciary."
"The verdicts in Perović's favor are the best proof that the new government did not implement the promised anti-corruption reforms on time. Instead of substantial changes and building independent institutions, the focus of some was on party entrenchment, while others on increasingly frequent appointments of people from the previous regime to key positions. We have repeatedly warned that postponing reforms would have exactly these consequences. However, promises to fight corruption quickly faded when positions became more important than principles," said Ćalović Marković.
She emphasized that it is not enough for the fight against corruption to remain just a slogan at election rallies.
"...Because citizens demand concrete action, determination and a clear break with compromised personnel. If the necessary reforms are not implemented and as soon as possible, we fear that other important proceedings initiated against high-ranking officials of the previous regime will have a similar epilogue. Therefore, this verdict should be a clear alarm for the new government to finally stop with calculations and start with real changes and reforms," assessed the MANS director.
She bought and sold, but didn't pay taxes.
Judge Dragana Lubarda of the Podgorica Basic Court announced yesterday that Perović did not have to pay taxes to the state after selling her apartment in Cetinje, explaining this by claiming that at that moment the former director of ASK did not have any other real estate.
"From the evidence that was presented, which are primarily expert opinions from the geodetic profession, expert opinions from the economic and financial profession, the court determined that during that period Jelena Perović only had the real estate that she had at her disposal and which she had the right to dispose of. According to the Tax Law, Perović was not obliged to pay this type of tax, given that she had resolved her housing issue in that way and did not have other real estate registered in her name that she would have had at her disposal during that period. This conclusion also stems from the position of the Tax Administration, which stated in the previous procedure, i.e. inspection supervision, that she did not have any tax obligations," explained Lubarda.
The Podgorica Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT) immediately announced that it would appeal the verdict, specifying that "the reasons stated by the first-instance court in the acquittal verdict were incorrectly and incompletely established."
"...And especially the fact that the defendant allegedly did not have other real estate registered in her name that she could dispose of during that period, although the evidence presented at the main trial shows that during the disputed period she was the owner of a real estate-apartment, measuring 69 square meters in Podgorica, which she acquired by purchase," the Podgorica State Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.
According to property and income reports available on the ASK website, Perović reported a change of more than 2019 euros in April 5.000 - the purchase of a 69-square-meter apartment, as well as a housing loan. Two months later, she reported "the sale of property rights for the purchase of an apartment from a contract for the purchase of an apartment under favorable terms," which refers to an 87-square-meter apartment in Cetinje.
The ODT initiated proceedings against Perović ex officio after the Basic Court issued a first-instance verdict in the summer of last year on the state's lawsuit that the former director of ASK is obliged to return more than 58.000 euros to the budget with interest, because she obtained the apartment on favorable terms for less than 32.000, and then sold it for 73.000.
According to property and income reports available on the ASK website, Perović reported a change of more than 2019 euros in April 5.000 - the purchase of a 69-square-meter apartment, as well as a housing loan. Two months later, she reported "the sale of property rights for the purchase of an apartment from a contract for the purchase of an apartment under favorable conditions", which refers to an 87-square-meter apartment in Cetinje.
ASK Council to make a new decision
The Administrative Court of Montenegro annulled the decision of the ASK Council to dismiss Perović and ordered that body to make a new, lawful decision.
"The defendant authority will, in the retrial, taking into account the reasons from this judgment, in accordance with the Administrative Dispute Act, make a new, lawful decision," the judgment states, according to information from "Vijesti".
After her dismissal last summer, Perović sued the ASK Council, claiming that during her dismissal, the provisions of the administrative procedure were violated, the situation was incorrectly and incompletely determined, and substantive law was incorrectly applied.
The ASK Council unanimously dismissed Perović on August 15th of last year. Immediately after the decision was made, a statement from the former director was published on the ASK website, claiming that her dismissal was “politically motivated” and that “the political parties on whose behalf the majority of the Council members are implementing the plan for her dismissal are clearly promised impunity for many criminal acts.”
Perović also listed the violations that, she claims, were committed by the new ASK Council.
It is alleged that the Council had to invite her to sessions, which were convened in violation of the rules, and that she was not allowed to elect a deputy president...
The Administrative Court's statement states that the former director "was not given the opportunity to comment on the reasons why she was dismissed from her position by the contested decision."
"It is not disputed that the agenda of the Council session is determined at the session (Article 14, paragraph 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Council of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption), as was done in the specific case, when the members of the Council, after reviewing the documentation on the inspection supervision carried out, concluded that there were reasons for the dismissal of the Director of the Agency from Article 98, paragraph 1, item 4, in connection with Article 9, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Law on the Prevention of Corruption, which relate to the violation of the provisions of the Law and the rules of the Agency and the obligation of a public official to perform his or her function in a manner that does not subordinate the public interest to the private, as well as not to cause a conflict of interest in the performance of a public function. However, since at the same session, without prior notification to the plaintiff, the procedure for her dismissal was initiated and a decision was made, the Court concluded that she was not given the opportunity to participate in the procedure for her dismissal and to state her opinion on the facts relevant to the decision, since the statement of the plaintiff, number 01-2193 of 15.8. 2024, to which the defendant referred, was given in relation to the second reason for dismissal (from Article 98, paragraph 1, item 3, and in relation to the failure to meet the conditions from Article 87, paragraph 3 of the Law on the Prevention of Corruption), and not the reason for which she was dismissed from her duties by the contested decision. Due to the aforementioned procedural violation, the Court assessed that the contested decision should have been annulled," the Administrative Court said in a statement.
PES worried
The Europe Now Movement (PES) is concerned about the Basic Court's decision to acquit Perović of tax evasion charges.
They believe that such a decision raises the question of the urgency of reforms in the judiciary.
"The court's ignoring of evidence related to the ownership of an apartment in Podgorica is particularly disturbing. The efforts of prosecutorial organizations at all levels aimed at delivering justice and handling high-level corruption cases deserve recognition. In contrast, this type of judicial action unfortunately undermines progress in chapters 23 and 24 and harms Montenegro's European integration, but more importantly - it undermines the citizens' trust in the judiciary, which chronically fails to eliminate major social injustice," the PES assessed.
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