The Center for Civic Education (CCE) has called on the members of the Radio and Television Council of Montenegro (RTCG) who were found guilty of abuse of office by the first-instance verdict of the Basic Court in Podgorica to immediately resign from their positions.
CCE program associate Nikola Obradović said that the NGO "values" the first-instance verdict, which sentenced Council President Veselin Drljević and members Filip Lazović, Naod Zorić, and former member Amina Murić to suspended sentences - seven months in prison if they repeat the crime within two years.
He says that CCE has consistently warned about obvious legal shortcomings in the work of the RTCG Council, and that today's verdict confirms the validity of some of those indications.
"We remind you that this decision relates to the illegal appointment of Boris Raonic in 2023. However, in the meantime, the same members of the Council have repeatedly repeated this illegal practice - in July 2024, when they appointed Raonic as the acting director of RTCG, just a few minutes after he resigned from the position of general director, and then in September 2024, when they elected him as the general director for a full term, allegedly applying the new Law on the National Public Broadcaster. These members of the Council unfoundedly credited Raonic with work experience acquired in the previous term, which the court declared illegal. Therefore, even after the illegality of the previous election was clearly established, the same actors knowingly continued with the illegal practice, which should lead to stricter sanctions for them through subsequent verdicts," Obradovic said.
It is unacceptable, he said, that persons who have abused their position continue to decide on key issues for the future of the Public Service Broadcaster, including the adoption of the budget and financial plan of RTCG, which, by law, must be adopted by the end of the year, on the basis of which "these compromised persons would once again manage around 20 million euros of the money of all citizens of Montenegro."
Additionally, he said, it raises the "question of the ethical dimension" of these members remaining in public office at all. "How can we expect persons who have been judicially found guilty to make decisions based on the principles of ethics, meritocracy and professional standards in the future? Their actions so far show the exact opposite, with their persistence in continuously violating the law and degrading institutions for the sake of particular interests."
It is also indicative, says Obradović, that the minutes and decisions from the Council sessions at which Raonić was illegally appointed acting director, and then director for a full term in 2024, "are not included in the RTCG bulletin, even though the RTCG Council is obliged, under the Law on the National Public Broadcaster, to publish the bulletin twice a year."
"The absence of minutes from the aforementioned sessions further casts doubt on the transparency of the Council's work and justifies today's court ruling," he said.
Obradović said that the question remains: who will compensate for the damage caused to the state.
"Today's verdict confirms that the members of the Council knowingly enabled Boris Raonic to illegally manage RTCG, causing direct damage to the public interest, budget and credibility of the Public Service. This must be a clear signal that abuses in high positions cannot remain without consequences. If, despite the verdict, these individuals are allowed to continue to make decisions, the message is sent that institutions are captured, and abuses are normalized and unpunished. And such a scenario would be disastrous for citizens' trust in RTCG and for the very idea of the rule of law in Montenegro," the statement reads.
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