They announced charges against all those who participated in the falsification of data in the process of selecting members of the RTCG Council.

The NGO group announced that it will file criminal charges against Veselin Drljević and all persons found to have participated in forging documents, providing false information, using an invalid stamp, or otherwise misleading the competent authorities and the public in the process of electing members of the RTCG Council.

As they state, criminal charges will also be filed against employees of the Parliament of Montenegro, if it is determined that they knowingly, on someone's instructions or through gross neglect of official duties, failed to check the authenticity and legality of the documentation submitted by candidates for members of the RTCG Council.

"So far, we have determined that among the allegedly valid supports for Veselin Drljević is an organization called the Association for the Protection and Preservation of Nature Kapetanovo Jezero, which has not existed under that name since 2021. Instead, the Association for Information and Publishing Activities of Radio Svetigora operates today. This association withdrew its support for Drljević yesterday, after, apparently, they learned from the media that their name was used without the consent and knowledge of the responsible persons," they announced.

They add that, in Drljević's documentation and on the List of timely and complete candidate proposals adopted by the Administrative Board, there is still a non-existent NGO, which certified its documents with an invalid stamp, thereby committing a criminal offense, and that this completely compromised the process itself.

"In the last two days, two organizations from Drljević's list have officially withdrawn their support. This should be an alarm for the Administrative Committee and sufficient reason to urgently conduct a detailed check of the complete documentation, in the presence of government and opposition MPs, as well as all interested candidates, as well as other members of the public. At the same time, there are indications that none of the persons formally representing the organizations on the list supporting candidate Amar Škrijelj were aware of the support procedure. Additionally, among the organizations that supported this candidate are those that, according to available data, do not meet the legally prescribed conditions for participation in this procedure," several non-governmental organizations announced.

These non-governmental organizations once again call on the Administrative Board to ensure full transparency of the procedure at today's session, including access to complete documentation for the interested public, as well as 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.

"If the Administrative Board decides to ignore the withdrawn support, evidence of possible falsification of documents and other serious irregularities, it will be clear that this is not about protecting legality and the public interest, but about a politically driven process aimed at preserving party control over RTCG. Non-governmental organizations will also insist that the names of all employees of the Parliament of Montenegro who participated in the verification and processing of candidate documentation be published, so that the public has full insight into the responsibility of all actors involved in this process. We remind you that in some previous procedures for appointing members of various councils, parliamentary services have requested additional documentation when there were any doubts or formal shortcomings, so they cannot justify themselves by not knowing whether the data from the submitted documentation was accurate or not," they said.

They add that the Parliament will, sooner or later, have to provide full access to the documentation of candidates for members of the RTCG Council.

"Already now, in a very short period of time and with limited access to documentation, serious doubts have been revealed about the legality of this procedure. Therefore, criminal charges will be filed against all persons who are found to have participated in illegal actions, including possible coordinated actions aimed at misleading the public and competent institutions and compromising the procedure for electing members of the RTCG Council," they said.

The announcement is 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)

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 Vujović, NGO Juventas

Budislavka Mira Saveljić, Women's Safe House