NGOs ask the EU Delegation to monitor the legality of the election of members of the RTCG Council

A group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) today submitted a request to the Head of the European Union Delegation to Montenegro, Ambassador Johan Sattler, to appoint its representative as an observer in the process of electing four new members of the RTCG Council. The reason for this request is serious doubts about the legality of the procedure, including the acceptance of incomplete and questionable documentation of certain candidates who are clearly favorites of the ruling political parties, the Media Center announced.

As stated in the statement, organizations active in the field of human rights and media have called on the EU Delegation, as well as relevant officials of EU institutions and other international organizations, to carefully monitor the implementation of the Law on RTCG and remind the parliamentary majority of the obligation to consistently comply with the prescribed procedures.

"The inclusion of EU representatives as observers would be a guarantee of transparency and legality of the process, which is already raising serious doubts among the public, and is of crucial importance for the independence of the public service. It was also pointed out that the public call for the election of four members of the RTCG Council was announced with a delay of 45 days, as well as the fear that the Administrative Board is trying to speed up the procedure in order to send politically suitable candidates to the Parliament for a vote without thoroughly checking their documentation and compliance with legal requirements," the statement said.

It is indicative, according to the joint statement of the NGOs, that opposition MPs were not allowed to review in detail the complete documentation of all candidates at the session of the Administrative Committee, held on June 4, even though it was precisely on the basis of this documentation that it was determined whether the candidacies met the legal requirements.

"Based on just one day of searching the internet and available databases, serious shortcomings were identified in the documentation of Veselin Drljević (a candidate from an NGO in the field of media) and Amar Škrijelj (a candidate from an NGO in the field of human rights). Also, some candidacies do not contain even basic information about the category of authorized proposers, i.e. it is not stated whether they are proposed by organizations in the field of media or human rights, which is a key element for assessing the legality of the candidacy," it states.

The statement added that the majority in the Administrative Committee also demonstrated inconsistency in the application of the criteria.

According to them, just a few months ago, the same majority annulled the election procedure for members of the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services due to formal deficiencies in the candidates' documentation, while now it is ignoring the same or similar deficiencies in the case of their projected candidates.

"The NGO group informed the EU Delegation, as well as other representatives of institutions that monitor these issues, about the fact that among the nominators of Veselin Drljević and Amara Škrijelj, there are organizations that do not meet the legal requirements, including non-existent organizations, then those that are not active in the field of media and it is in this field that Drljević is being nominated, do not have publicly available data on relevant activities or do not meet the financial criteria prescribed by the Law on RTCG. This data confirms that the parliamentary service did not properly assess the fulfillment of the legal requirements and documentation of the candidates for members of the RTCG Council," the statement reads.

After one of the organizations - the NGO Society of Montenegrin Journalists - withdrew its support for candidate Veselin Drljević, the issue of the validity of the complete list of candidates and the need for the Administrative Board to review the documentation and adopt a new list of timely and complete proposals was additionally raised.

NGOs have called on the Administrative Board to provide all interested candidates and the public with access to relevant documentation at the session scheduled for June 9, and for government and opposition MPs to actively participate in verifying the legality of the procedure before the election of members of the RTCG Council is finalized.

"Given that the adoption of media laws was one of the key conditions for obtaining a positive IBAR, we expect the EU institutions to devote full attention to this process and insist on respecting the principles of the rule of law, transparency and independence of the public service, as this is also a matter of their credibility, which the parliamentary majority is irresponsibly treating," the statement concluded, signed by:

Goran Đurović, Media Center

Olivera Nikolić, Media Institute of Montenegro (IMCG)

Daliborka Uljarević, Center for Civic Education (CCE)

Milka Tadić Mijović, Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN-CG)

Tea Gorjanc Prelević, Human Rights Action (HRA)

Darko Ivanović, NGO 35mm

Zdravko Janjušević, Bijelo Polje Democratic Center

Nataša Nelević, NOVA - Center for Feminist Culture

Zorana Marković - Center for the Development of Non-Governmental Organizations (CRNVO)

Nevenka Vuksanović - Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM)

Maja Raičević, Center for Women's Rights

Muamera Muslić, NGO Đakomo Adriatic Boris Nedović, NGO Center of the North

Marina Vujačić, Association of Disabled Youth of Montenegro (UMHCG)

Nataša Međedović, SOS hotline for women and children victims of violence Nikšić

Radomir Krackovic, Media Union of Montenegro

Aida Perović, NGO Prima

Ivana Vojvodić- NGO Juventas

Budislavka Mira Saveljić-Safe Women's House