Captain Dudić reports Lompar and Idrizović

Until recently, the only navigation safety inspector in Montenegro, Captain Mrs. Dudić, filed a criminal complaint with the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica against the now Chief Inspector of Navigation Safety at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs Zeljko Lompar and the director of the Directorate for Navigation Safety in that government department, Captain Goran Idrizović.

In the criminal complaint that "Vijesti" has had access to, Lompar is charged with committing the criminal offenses of "forgery of an official document" and "inducing the certification of false content." At the same time, Idrizović is charged with committing the criminal offenses of "abuse of official position" and "unconscionable work in the service."

Dudić states in his complaint that in October 2017, when applying for the public advertisement of the then Human Resources Administration for the position of inspector/chief inspector of navigation safety, Lompar submitted and used a maritime registration book (matriculation) number 9126-series D00064 as proof of his sailing experience.

"The seaman's book in question records a boarding in 2002 on the ship 'MORNING CLOUD' in the rank of second engineer officer. However, upon inspection of the official registers, it was determined that Željko Lompar passed the exam for the certification of second engineer officer on ships of 3.000 kW and above only on 15 September 2003. From the above, it clearly follows that a false boarding was entered in the seaman's book in a rank for which the person named did not have and could not have had the prescribed legal authorization during that period," the report states.

Dudić states in his complaint against Lompar that this is "a deliberate forgery and manipulation of an official document."

"This is confirmed by the fact that the official Certificate of Navigational Experience issued by the Kotor Port Authority does not contain the time of (Lompar's - ed.) embarkation on the ship 'MORNING CLOUD', which indicates that the disputed entry in the booklet itself was made illegally and outside the official electronic and book database of the Kotor Port Authority, with the aim of misleading the Human Resources Administration by falsely presenting facts and gaining an advantage in the public advertisement," Dudić stated in the application.

He states that Idrizović, as "a senior and immediate superior manager in the Directorate for Navigation Safety, despite repeated and publicly available newspaper articles and media captions that categorically pointed to the falsification of official documents by Željko Lompar, consciously failed to take measures within his jurisdiction."

"Although, pursuant to Article 100, paragraph 2 of the Law on Administrative Procedure, he was obliged to initiate an investigation procedure ex officio, in the public interest, in order to verify and determine the truthfulness of the data on the basis of which Željko Lompar was appointed to the position, the second respondent (Idrizović - ed.) by his conscious silence and inaction enabled the first respondent (Lompar - ed.) to continue performing the inspection function and obtaining material benefits to the detriment of the budget of Montenegro. In this way, the second respondent seriously violated the rights of other potential candidates who meet the requirements for appointment to the position of Chief Inspector of Navigation Safety and caused damage to the reputation of the state body," Dudić's complaint states.

THE MINISTRY HAS BEEN SILENT FOR FIVE MONTHS

Five months ago, "Vijesti" wrote about a series of illogicalities and discrepancies in the data in the maritime books (registration books) of the chief inspectors of navigation safety at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Željko Lompar and Novice Mijovic, with certificates from the shipping companies for which they sailed and official certificates of seafaring experience issued to them by the port authorities in Kotor and Bar when the two of them applied for inspectors.

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs subsequently announced that Lompar and Mijović "are long-standing civil servants, and appreciate that the competent authorities in the previous period evaluated the validity of the data entered in the maritime booklets, i.e. the certificates of seafaring experience for the appointed persons, as part of the regular administrative and personnel procedures that were carried out when deciding on the fulfillment of the conditions for employment and assignment to appropriate positions."

However, from the department headed by the Minister Filip Radulović (PES) then announced that in relation to the allegations published in "Vijesti", "within the framework of their regular jurisdiction and without prejudice, they will conduct additional insight into the available documentation, with the aim of fully reviewing all relevant facts."

After that, they no longer spoke publicly on this topic, and Lompar and Mijović continued to perform their duties as chief inspectors of navigation safety in Kotor and Bar, respectively.

In statements to "Vijesti", the two men then vigorously denied that the data from their registration certificates and navigation certificates were in any way questionable, or that they had been manipulated.

Meanwhile, in July, the Special State Prosecutor's Office confirmed that among a total of five criminal cases they have opened due to cases of possible illegal actions by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and responsible persons in that department, and in which they are conducting an investigation, there is also a case of doubts about the authenticity of official documentation (a certificate proving that they meet the requirements required by the systematization regarding the length of navigation experience in an adequate capacity on board a ship) for the Chief PSC Inspectors of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs Željko Lompar and Novica Mijović.

The public has also not been officially informed about the further fate of the case since then.