The Human Rights Action (HRA) expressed its protest over the "harassment of columnist Duško Kovačević," who, they said, was summoned to the police for an informational interview on the orders of the state prosecutor due to his public criticism of the work of the director of the Police Directorate, Lazar Šćepanović.
On this occasion, the NGO addressed the Supreme State Prosecutor with a request to urgently investigate the circumstances of the case and inform the public about the conclusion, as well as to issue clear instructions to state prosecutors on the application of international standards of freedom of expression, in order to "prevent further unfounded harassment of government critics and protect freedom of expression."
Kovačević, HRA explains, was summoned to the police yesterday for the text "Better than running away", published on his Facebook profile on February 1.
"He was told over the phone that he was being summoned by order of the state prosecutor due to alleged threats to the director of the Police Directorate, although the post clearly does not contain any threats. He was put in a situation where he had to explain to the police that in his public comment on Facebook he had not threatened the police director, although this was quite clear from the comment itself. The state prosecutor had to conclude this himself, by reading Kovačević's text," the statement reads.
Although the Basic State Prosecutor's Office has since announced that there are no elements of a criminal offense in his actions, the HRA says that "the damage has already been done - both to Kovačević personally and to freedom of expression in Montenegro."
"Montenegro must not allow the practice of summoning journalists, columnists and citizens to police and prosecutorial hearings for expressing their views on issues of public interest, especially when it comes to the work of public office holders, who are obliged to tolerate a higher level of criticism. Such a practice is contrary to the standards of the European Court of Human Rights and encourages self-censorship, which threatens the democratic order," says the HRA.
They remind that criminal repression in the area of freedom of expression can only be justified in exceptional cases, such as hate speech or calls for violence, "which are clearly not the case in this case."
In addition, they point to "procedural shortcomings" in the police's actions, saying that Kovačević did not receive a written summons with a clearly stated reason, nor was he informed of his right to be present at the hearing with a lawyer, and the minutes do not state for which criminal offense he was summoned or that the summons was issued at the order of the state prosecutor.
"The continuation of the practice of summoning citizens to hearings would make the state prosecutor's office an instrument for suppressing critical opinion, because the very summons to an informative interview due to the criticism expressed produces an inappropriately frightening effect on all citizens," the statement reads.
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