The police intervention in Botun was requested verbally by the deputy chief of the municipal police, Darko Papić, because Podgorica Mayor Saša Mujović removed Chief Radenko Radenović from command of the municipal police operation when he ordered the withdrawal of his officers, the Democratic People's Party announced.
This is stated in their response to yesterday's allegations by the Police Directorate, after the institution said that their officers intervened in Botun on December 30 at the request of the Municipal Police of the Capital City and submitted a request for police assistance signed by Radenko Radenović, Head of the Municipal Police Service. Radenović was on the councilor list of the coalition "For the Future of Podgorica - for the City of All of Us" in the local elections in Podgorica in 2024.
"The Police Department in its statements increasingly reminds the Media Center of a political entity that we no longer have the dilemma that the process of creating a party militia is underway, in which Lazar Šćepanović will be given a red tie instead of ranks as a sign of initiation. Lazar Šćepanović's manipulative attempt to accuse the chief of the municipal police, Raša Radenović, for the intervention of 680 police officers in Botun is the best indicator of his awareness of his abuse of office and criminal liability, which will be determined by the prosecution and courts. The only truth that Šćepanović is running away from is that the police intervention in Botun was requested by the deputy chief, Darko Papić, through a verbal call, because Mayor Mujović took away Radenović's command of the municipal police action when he ordered the withdrawal of his officers. By law, Radenović was obliged to formally submit a request to the UP 24 hours after the action was carried out, which he did, but only when the action was completed, clearly stating that the police officers were called to the intervention verbally by his deputy," it says in the response.
The proof of this, as they said, is an official note, part of which they provided to the media in support of the reaction, which "completely exposes Lazar Šćepanović's attempt to wash his hands of the shameful action in Botun."
"All of Montenegro saw that the action had been prepared for days, that 680 police officers were brought in from all over Montenegro, that a murder occurred in Budva that same night because there were no police in the city, and that Šćepanović asked to be elected at a telephone session in order to show his loyalty in carrying out repression against the unarmed people. Of course, it never occurred to Šćepanović to react like this during the Sozina blockade, the Šavnik blockade, the railway blockade and many other blockades. It seems that he decided to show the 'power' of the state over the people of Zećani and on the first day of his full mandate go down in history by arresting 54 citizens of Botun. Neither Veselin Veljović nor Slavko Stojanović succeeded in doing so," the DNP said.
They said the police director's behavior was "irresistibly reminiscent" of former chief special prosecutor Milivoje Katnić.
"The principle is the same, everything else is nuances. And he should be sure that these cheap political spins and party statements for which he uses the UP seal will not get away with it. As of tomorrow, he will receive a few questions for which we expect him to write an answer, since it is obvious that Šćepanović is more 'oral' than written," the reaction reads.
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