MP Aleksandra Vuković Kuč asked the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) in the Parliament today to explain why it did not continue to act on allegations made by employees of the Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) about possible corruption in the Public Service Council.
During the discussion of the Agency's reports for 2023 and 2024, she reminded that part of the document refers to the media sector and said that "the Public Service, which I have recently called a public disgrace, is also included there."
Vuković Kuč stated that ASK employees pointed out the formation of a commission for the allocation of apartments without regulations and supervision, as well as the exclusion of one trade union from the process.
"If you have not given an answer to the employees of RTCG regarding the endangerment of the public interest and evident corruption, then it is your turn to answer us from the opposition," she said. She recalled the recommendations of the President of the country, the European Commission and the European Federation of Journalists and added that, as she claims, the RTCG Council "has repeatedly made illegal and illegitimate appointments of directors."
According to her, there is a suspicion that the Agency "under certain pressure has given in and withdrawn", and she asked whether ASK is conducting an inspection of the work of the Council and whether there are reasonable suspicions of high-level corruption. After the response of the Agency's acting director Dušan Drakić, she said that she did not receive a clear answer and that this "only deepens the suspicion".
Drakić said that the Agency already has several cases in the media field and that the Media Agency will make decisions in the coming period. "When I come to the Agency, I will see which cases relate to the threat to the public interest and suspicions of corruption in RTCG, or in the RTCG Council," he said, adding that the ASK must provide an answer to every suspicion raised.
The debate was also marked by MPs' objections to the budget and the Agency's previous work. MP Nikola Janović said that ASK does not have the budget it is entitled to by law: "By law, you are entitled to around 3,2 million, and you have 2,23 million." He added that the parliamentary majority avoids the quorum in the Anti-Corruption Committee when hearings are requested on energy and donations.
MP Boris Mugoša recalled that the Finance Committee unanimously supported the ASK budget proposal of three million euros, while the Government proposed 2,2 million. "The Agency's representatives should be worried that the government is praising them so much," he said.
MP Maja Vučelić said that the reports show "selective justice, which is worse than any injustice." She stated that the ASK Council, when it entered the institution last September, found 564 unresolved cases, and reminded that the work of former director Jelena Perović is before the Special State Prosecutor's Office.
MP Velimir Đoković assessed that the lack of staff has led to ASK being "a mere political appendage". He said that the Agency previously dealt exclusively with opposition parties and stated that former director Sreten Radonjić was "the punching fist of former Prime Minister Duško Marković".
MP Duško Stjepović said that the new management of ASK has shown that this institution can work professionally and that for the first time it is conducting proceedings against officials from both the government and the opposition.
MP Milica Rondović stated that the report shows shortcomings in staffing and the IT system, but that cooperation with the prosecutor's office is "encouraging".
MP Sonja Milatović Popović said that she "wouldn't like the government to praise her this much", stating that the ASK report is an occasion to remind us that certain ministers from the post-August government, "including this one, arbitrarily distributed variables in millions of euros, which was also determined by the budget inspection, and none of them have been arrested to date".
She recalled, as she put it, "the scandalous and unprecedented arrest of former ASK director Perović."
"It is comical how ASK plays the role of a small prosecutor's office, because that Agency, just like the prosecutor's office, illegally provides information to the media, so today proceedings are being conducted before the courts of Montenegro, and then you realize that this is all a joke when you see that serious, terrible investigations are being conducted into watches that turn out to be photomontages," said Milatović Popović.
Acting Director of the Kosovo Anti-Corruption Commission, Dušan Drakić, reminded that a report on the implementation of GRECO recommendations must be submitted by December 31st and announced that six out of 19 recommendations have not been implemented. They relate to the Law on Government, the Code of Ethics, constitutional provisions on immunity and four recommendations concerning the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The President of the ASK Council, Pavle Ćupić, said that the Agency's director was not elected for a full term because the Council wanted to wait for the adoption of the new Law on the Prevention of Corruption. "If the law is soon before the deputies, we will announce a competition. If not, we will elect the director according to the current regulations," he said.
MP Oskar Huter (DPS) recalled during the debate that, as he said, "whistleblowers from the Agency itself" pointed out irregularities related to the reports before the MPs. He stated that these remarks related to the Post of Montenegro, the Ski Resorts of Montenegro and RTCG, and then raised the issue of the status of the head of the Agency himself.
Huter asked Drakić whether, as the head of ASK, he had withdrawn the lawsuit related to his election to that position and whether such a possible action would constitute a conflict of interest. He also asked him whether the Agency had conducted a check of the assets of the Supreme State Prosecutor in 2024 and whether it had been determined how the standby allowance was obtained. He was also interested in whether a procedure had been initiated on that basis and whether the case had been referred to the prosecutor's office, "as was done in the case of the former ASK director", and if not, for what reason.
Drakić said in response that he was not avoiding questions and that ASK had "no cases in its drawers."
He recalled that the discussion was about the 2023 report and stated that, according to the data he is now presenting, certain events from that period were not reflected in the report. He pointed out that “a close associate of the then director of ASK was erased from the criminal record”, that another employee received compensation during the period when he was performing community service, and that “around 20 employees were demoted to the lowest positions”. He added that ten employees were suspended, including eight women, with, as he said, “significant pressure that did not provoke a public reaction”.
"Not a single item has been lost, not one has been put in a drawer. Everything has been recorded and I am ready to discuss any case with the MPs," said Drakić.
Responding to a question about the lawsuit, he said that he had not withdrawn any lawsuits and that he did not know what Huter was referring to. When it came to the Supreme State Prosecutor's asset file, he said that the check had been carried out for 2023 and 2024 and that "the procedure is now underway."
Drakić added that, according to the European Commission report, there have been no complaints about the work of ASK in the last 15 months.
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