The President of the Democratic People's Party (DNP) Milan Knežević announced at today's press conference that he wants to ask one of the prosecutors about whether a case has been opened against Petar Lazović and Ljubo Milović in connection with the alleged attempt to "buy" the verdict of the Court of Appeal in the state case impact
The President of the Parliament of Montenegro and the leader of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD), Andrija Mandić, said that he was convinced that "the verdict in the first-instance proceedings was bought in a similar way", adding that he currently has no evidence for this, but believes that it will emerge.
"Then we see in the second-instance proceedings that there were still some honorable judges who could not be bought. We need to establish that network in the Montenegrin judiciary, a network of those who are ready to knock on the judges' doors to ask them how much you are willing to give us money for you to make the verdict that we want and that suits us politically," he added.
"Vijesti" announced yesterday that Lazović and Milović said that they could not waste money just to confirm the first-instance verdict in the coup d'état case, by which, among other things, Knežević and Mandić, then opposition leaders, were sentenced to five years in prison each.
"Given that this criminal group was going in the direction of corrupting the judges of the Court of Appeal with money from crime, it would be important to launch an investigation. We believe that the prosecution and other state authorities will come forward, given that this is evidence of how the coup was staged. What is very important is that if there is correspondence between Suzana Mugoša and Vesna Medenica, is there any evidence of abuse of official position," Knežević pointed out at a press conference in the Parliament of Montenegro.
"We don't expect empathy or support from anyone, because here support is only received if a penguin dislocates its leg in the Arctic or if half an acre of forest in the Amazon catches fire, then all the non-governmental organizations jump in and demand that we all make a public statement and support the dislocated penguin and burning Amazonian forests, and when for eight years the court process against Andrija Mandić, Mihail Čađenović, me, Serbian citizens and Russian citizens whom no one has ever seen has been faked and staged, then it should be announced that DPS is equal to DF", explained the leader of DNP.
He recalled that Andrija Mandić, he and their lawyers requested that the indictment be dismissed.
"Vesna Medenica's vocabulary shows the situation in the Montenegrin prosecutor's office and the judiciary," said Knežević, alluding to her curses uttered in her correspondence with a colleague.
"Vijesti" announced yesterday that after the head of the cabinet, Mirjana Bobičić, sent her a link to a text from a portal on February 5, 2021, which announced that the Court of Appeal had annulled the verdict for the coup, the former president of the Supreme Court, Vesna Medenica, replied: "I know, their mother is a Chetnik".
Andrija Mandić said at the press conference that a judicial earthquake happened yesterday.
"Every citizen of Montenegro wants to have courts and a judiciary to go to court and seek justice to get justice, and not that when he goes to court, instead of justice, the main role is played by money, and the money of the mafia, which should eliminate honest people, all political options And destroy people's lives. You can imagine what the politicians from the Democratic Front (DF) went through, Mihailo Čađenović spent eight months innocent in prison. When this rubbish from our judiciary, influenced by the mafia, comes to the surface, it is questioned how the Prosecutor's Council is working," said Mandic.
Mandić said that "Vijesti" has been equating DPS and DF for years, saying that they are two sides of the same coin, but yesterday's information showed that DF is a democratic coalition that fights for citizens.
He said that he is convinced that "the verdict in the first-instance procedure was bought in a similar way", adding that he currently has no evidence for this, but that he believes that it will emerge.
"This is an important moment to reevaluate things in Montenegro. The most responsible for these events are the Judicial Council, the Prosecutor's Council and this Assembly," said the President of the Assembly.
Mandić pointed out that he thinks "this is one of the points that must not be crossed".
Mandić and Knežević said that the coalition For the Future of Montenegro (ZBCG), which consists of their parties, is ready to elect the remaining members of the Judicial Council as soon as possible.
"This is a matter of fate that can change whether this country will be democratic, whether we will have institutions that work in the interest of all the citizens of Montenegro. We know that our security services and the prosecution and the judiciary, that is infected with corruption, we know that those people who are corrupt are aware of their tails holding each other, we know that those who criticize have the ability to be very harsh when it comes to someone, and when it comes to others to pretend that nothing is wrong it didn't happen," Mandić assessed.
He said that this is a good opportunity to act if "we want Montenegro to be a successful project".
"When I spoke about reconciliation in Montenegro, I wasn't talking about criminals. I was talking about honest people, and criminals must be held accountable," Mandic said.
Mandić announced that this parliament should elect other members of the Judicial Council and the Supreme State Prosecutor.
He said that the dialogue on judicial appointments is open.
"The Coalition for the Future of Montenegro (ZBCG), and we had discussions with our colleagues from the parliamentary majority, wants in the period ahead of us, which implies compliance with all procedures related to the election of the Supreme State Prosecutor and the Judicial Council, to do that work ", stated Mandić.
He pointed out that, among the 11 candidates, there are three candidates around whom the necessary three-fifths majority can be gathered in order to be elected.
"I expect and believe that in this Parliament on Wednesday we will celebrate the missing seventh judge of the Constitutional Court, and then, in accordance with the necessary procedures, we will elect the Supreme State Prosecutor and the three missing members of the Judicial Council," said Mandić.
Answering a journalist's question about whether they had knowledge of Zoran Lazović's participation in staging the coup d'état, Knežević said that they had no direct knowledge of it, and that according to the information they had, Petar Lazović, Ljubo Milović and "probably Radoje Zvicer" were involved.
He pointed out that they know that Zoran Lazović did not own an encrypted phone, and that this is a better question for the prosecution.
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