Mašković: We will initiate formal proceedings to dismiss the RTV Podgorica Council due to the illegal appointment of Otašević

The Basic Court's ruling, which annuls the appointment of Vladimir Otašević as acting director of RTV Podgorica, unequivocally confirms everything we have been pointing out for months. The City TV Council is a politically constructed body that clearly does not work in the interests of the citizens of Podgorica, but in the interests of individuals whose appointment is now being contested in court, assessed the president of the European Union Councillors' Club in the Capital City Assembly, Miloš Mašković, and announced that he will initiate formal proceedings to dismiss the RTV Podgorica Council.

He added that this verdict confirmed that the election of Otašević as acting director was illegal, which, in his opinion, opened the way for the same candidate to later be elected as director for a full term.

"First, a temporary solution was imposed outside the law, and then the same scenario was formally legalized through a competition whose regularity is now under serious question," says Mašković.

The head of the European Union Councilors' Club claims that this is not an isolated case, but part of a broader picture.

"The court's decision is yet another legal clue in a series of serious controversies related to the management of RTV Podgorica. From the very beginning of Vladimir Otašević's appointment, this media outlet has been operating in an atmosphere of non-transparency and suspicion of political instrumentalization. The way in which the Council conducted the selection and appointment process is unbearably reminiscent of the case from the RTCG Council, where criminal charges were filed due to similar circumstances. This parallel cannot and must not remain without the attention of institutions that are supposed to safeguard the legality of public procedures," believes Mašković.

He says that in the coming days he will initiate formal proceedings to dismiss the RTV Podgorica Council due to the illegal appointment of Otašević.

"We believe that no one who participated in making a decision that the court declared illegal can remain in that position. Without entering into editorial policy, which must be professional and independent (and it is not), we have the right and obligation to point out the political context in which the management of RTV Podgorica operates. Public funds are spent, a public function is performed, and accountability to citizens must be absolute," concluded Mašković.