Hajduković: The jury for the Thirteenth of July Award must admit its mistake or I will initiate proceedings with the Administrative Court

Montenegrin scientist Dragan Hajduković, in an open letter to the jury for this year's Thirteenth of July Award, asked why they were silent in the face of, as he said, the undeniable truth that they had grossly violated the law.

He said that if the jury does not admit its mistake, he will initiate proceedings with the Administrative Court of Montenegro tomorrow.

The scientist previously announced that the jury for the 2025 Thirteenth of July Award grossly and recklessly violated the fundamental Article 17 of the Law on State Awards, and that their decision is therefore invalid.

Yesterday, Hajduković pointed out in a letter to the members of the Parliament, the President and the Government of Montenegro that, according to the last paragraph of the aforementioned article of the law, only one annual Thirteenth of July Award can be awarded in one field, and that all three of this year's awards (to musician Miloš Karadaglić, writer Bećir Vuković and graphic artist Veljo Stanišić) were awarded in the field of cultural and artistic creativity.

"It is your right (and I respect your right) to award the award in the field of cultural and artistic creativity, at your free choice, to one of the three awarded candidates (musician Miloš Karadaglic, writer Bećir Vuković or graphic artist Veljo Stanišić). However, the law does not allow you to award more than one candidate in one field; therefore, only one of them can be the winner, and the other two winners of the Thirteenth of July Award, by law, must be from two other fields of creativity.

"I ask you to immediately read Article 27 of the Law on State Awards, which has only 89 words, and to publicly acknowledge (to err is human) the mistake you made. If you do not do this by the end of the day (July 3, 2025), tomorrow (July 4, 2025) I will initiate proceedings with the Administrative Court of Montenegro," Hajduković announced.