Does Đeljoša's "maybe" still apply? Will Albanians help Perović return the money, if the verdicts become final?

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Leader of the Albanian Alternative Nick Djelosaj does not answer the question of whether he still stands behind the statement that Albanians in Montenegro would "maybe" be ready to help the former director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption Jelena Perović to return the money to the state "if she damaged anything", after she was convicted by a first-instance verdict of abuse of official position and forgery of an official document.

Perović was sentenced to two years and two months in prison by the Higher Court and ordered to pay the state 19.825 euros in property-related damages.

Djeljošaj made the statement about possible assistance in April 2024, at a press conference after a government session, commenting on the arrest of the then director of ASK. At the time, he said that Albanians in Montenegro have great respect for Perović because of the verdict she issued in 2016, as a judge of the Cetinje Basic Court, regarding chanting and insulting Albanians.

On May 7, "Vijesti" asked Đeljošaj whether, after the first-instance verdict of the Higher Court, he still stands by that statement, and whether he, his party, or representatives of the Albanian community are ready to help Perović pay the amount determined by the verdict if it becomes final.

The answer did not arrive by the end of the text.

On April 18, 2024, at the press center of the Government of Montenegro, after Perović's arrest on the orders of the Special State Prosecutor's Office, Đeljošaj assessed that the media's reporting on the case was a "circus", but also that Albanians in Montenegro have great respect for her.

"I said circus because Albanians in Montenegro have great respect for Jelena Perović. That is the only institution she has led where she was a judge, where she found the strength to pass a conviction for chanting and insulting Albanians, which we see in recent events at matches - where they are called Šiptars. Albanians are very grateful to her for that action. For these other things, if someone did something, of course they will be held accountable, and in that context I may have linked it, which may be related to this case. I think that maybe Albanians would be ready to help her return these funds from what they feel about that act from 2016," Đeljošaj said at the time.

He then emphasized that he was speaking as the leader of a political party, not as a representative of the Government.

Perović was found guilty by the first-instance verdict of the Higher Court of abuse of office and forgery of an official document in the part of the indictment that relates to paying the bill for the mobile phone used by her daughter, as well as paying for official trips for Nikola Lekić, who was hired under a service contract.

According to the verdict, Lekić traveled 15 times, even though he was not entitled to do so.

The former director of ASK was acquitted in the part of the indictment related to the payment of variable benefits, as well as in relation to the official trip to Ljubljana. Her lawyer announced an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

In addition to the criminal proceedings, in which she was convicted in the first instance and ordered to pay the state 19.825 euros, a separate civil proceeding was also conducted against Perović based on a lawsuit filed by the state.

In that case, the High Court upheld the Basic Court's verdict, which obliged the former director of ASK to return 58.539 euros to the state.

The decision concerns an apartment that Perović purchased on favorable terms while she was the president of the Basic Court in Cetinje. The proceedings were initiated following an initiative by the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector, which in late November 2022 asked the state to initiate proceedings for compensation for damages, claiming that Perović had not fulfilled her obligations under the apartment purchase contract.

In January 2018, Perović concluded a contract with the Basic Court in Cetinje for the sale of real estate under favorable terms, based on which she purchased an 87 square meter apartment for 31.960 euros.

According to the verdict, the contract stipulated that she would remain in her judicial position for at least five years from the date of conclusion of the contract. However, she left her judicial position before the expiration of that period and transferred the right from the contract to a third party. She then sold the apartment for 73.000 euros.

The Higher Court rejected Perović's appeal and ruled that, since she had not fulfilled her contractual obligation, she should return to the state the difference between the market value of the apartment and the amount she paid on favorable terms.