The verdict against the members of the Council of the Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) represents a step towards and with the aim of certain well-known structures eventually taking over RTCG, announced the chairman of the parliamentary Committee for the Political System, Judiciary and Administration and a member of parliament from the Democratic People's Party (DNP), Vladislav Bojović.
The President of the RTCG Council, Veselin Drljević, and three members of that body - Filip Lazović, Amina Murić and Naod Zorić - were found guilty in the first instance of abuse of office. Judge Dragana Lubarda of the Podgorica Basic Court said that Drljević, Lazović, Murić and Zorić were guilty of abuse of office because, even after a final verdict that he had been previously illegally appointed, they re-elected Boris Raonić as the director of RTCG in 2023. She sentenced them to a suspended sentence of seven months in the first instance verdict, on the condition that they do not commit a new criminal offense within two years. Otherwise, the suspended sentence will be replaced with a prison sentence. The lawyer for some of the convicted, Vladan Bojić, announced an appeal against that decision.
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"First of all, it is symptomatic that the same judge who recently acquitted former ASK director Jelena Perović of tax evasion charges has now convicted members of the Radio and Television Council of Montenegro for alleged abuse of office. Even more symptomatic is the fact that on the day the public was informed that the Telekom affair was time-barred, which, as we know, involved corruption worth millions of euros, which was indisputably confirmed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and court rulings in the US, and which was ultimately proven by the Democratic Front through investigative committees and control hearings in the Parliament of Montenegro, on the same day a conviction was issued against members of the RTCG Council," the statement reads.
Bojović claims that over a long period of time, "unprecedented pressure has been exerted by certain centers with the aim of taking over RTCG." "By which I mean not only the opposition, but also certain non-governmental organizations, media outlets close to the former government, and so-called analysts. Moreover, even certain judges were involved in creating the conditions and creating the environment for the members of the RTCG Council to make such a verdict, through their statements, 'objective' and 'expert' comments, and allegedly well-founded legal interpretations," he said.
That is why, as he said, they were not surprised by "this, in my deep conviction, untenable verdict", which "undoubtedly has its background", bearing in mind that, as he reiterated, there has been "extremely indicative pressure on the RTCG Council for a long period of time with the set goal: to conquer RTCG and cause damage to the parliamentary majority".
In addition, he claims, this is undoubtedly an attempt to compromise the members of the Council, among whom are "the most prominent people in their field."
"I emphasize, however, that while the prosecution's reaction to the statute of limitations in the case of proven corruption during the privatization of Telekom was reduced to calling for disciplinary responsibility of the then competent prosecutors, which is both tragicomic and absurd, the same prosecution is still keeping alive the case of Milivoj Katnić against Milan Knežević and Andrija Mandić in the fabricated 'coup d'état' case," said Bojović.
He says that all of this shows that fundamental reform has not been carried out in the judiciary, and therefore "it should not be surprising why the big fish of the old regime have still not been touched."
"It is evident that entrenched forces, or rather soldiers of the former regime, continue to make decisions in both the prosecution and the judiciary, which reinforces the need for efficient implementation of vetting. Because of all of the above, the determined fight to dismantle the criminal and corruption-ridden former regime must continue, because without this there can be no healing of Montenegrin society as a whole or the building of a rule of law," the statement reads.
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