The Media Center announced that they are eagerly awaiting the verdict of the Basic Court in Podgorica regarding the case of abuse of official position by members of the Radio and Television Council of Montenegro who ignored final court verdicts and, contrary to the law, appointed Boris Raonić as the General Director of Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG).
According to them, back in August 2021, during the first illegal appointment of Boris Raonić to the position of General Director, Media Center publicly warned members of the RTCG Council that Raonić did not meet the legally prescribed conditions.
"The majority of the Council members ignored the warnings of the Media Center. After the High Court issued a final judgment on the lawsuit of Nikola Marković, a candidate for the position of Director General of RTCG in the 2021 competition, the Media Center again warned the Council members that they would enter the zone of criminal liability if they did not implement the court's verdict," reads a statement from the Media Center signed by director Goran Đurović.
As they said, in addition to the NGO's warning, Council member Marijana Camović Velicković also warned Council members that the re-election of Raonic to the position of general director would be illegal.
"On June 1, 2023, the President and three members of the RTCG Council re-elected Boris Raonić to office, knowingly and knowingly,
They added that after the illegal re-election of Raonić in June 2023, Media Center filed criminal charges against five members of the RTCG Council who participated in the voting process.
"Following a lawsuit filed by the candidate for the position of Director General, Srđan Ćović, the Higher Court in Podgorica ruled in October 2024 that Raonić was unlawfully appointed to the position during the procedure conducted on June 1, 2023. This ruling removed all doubts as to whether the members of the RTCG Council violated the law and committed a criminal offense by voting in June 2023. The Prosecutor's Office initiated criminal proceedings, and the members of the Council defended themselves by remaining silent before the acting prosecutor. Finally, one member of the Council, Predrag Miranović, announced during the proceedings that during the vote on the election of the Director General on June 1, 2023, he actually abstained because he did not circle any of the candidates on the ballot," the Media Center said in a statement.
As stated in the statement, Miranović's confession led to the Prosecutor's Office dropping the charges against him, so the proceedings were reduced to the four remaining members of the Council who participated in the vote and illegal reappointment of Raonić.
"Media Center has no right nor does it want to influence the Court, but it has the right to believe that the court will not have a dilemma as to whether the four ballots, on which Boris Raonić was circled as the General Director of RTCG during the vote on June 1, 2023, belong precisely to Veselin Drljević (President of the RTCG Council), Filip Lazović, Naod Zorić and Amina Murić. The math is quite simple, out of the 4 members of the RTCG Council who voted unequivocally that day, Raonić received 4 votes for the illegal re-election," Media Center stated.
They said that the importance of the verdict in the case against the members of the RTCG Council is also demonstrated by the fact that this body, again for the third time, illegally elected Raonić to office.
"Admittedly, a first-instance verdict was reached in the third trial, and a final verdict is expected. What are the consequences of this case and the court's decision: if the evidence submitted by the Prosecutor's Office and the fact that two final verdicts were reached are taken into account, which unequivocally indicate that the members of the RTCG Council illegally elected Raonić to the position of general director, then the outcome is a conviction against 4 members of the RTCG Council. A verdict that would convict members of a collective body of a public enterprise or state body for violating the law and making illegal decisions would not be the first, but it would be a good example and reminder for all current and future public officials that illegal decisions cannot be made, hiding behind a collective body," the statement states.
The Media Center pointed out that, if it were otherwise, the judicial authorities would send a message that it is possible to violate laws and even ignore court decisions, for which the excuse would be that such decisions are made by collective bodies.
"In the final phase of negotiations with the EU and the expected completion of the process of closing chapters 23 and 24 next year, any decision that calls into question the application of the rule of law principles and the readiness of institutions to have an equal relationship with all citizens may lead to deviations from the desired goal," the Media Center statement concluded.
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