Member of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) Jovan Vučurović asked the Minister of Justice whether, in accordance with his competences, he would request to start the process of revising the agreement between the state prosecutors' offices of Montenegro and Croatia on cooperation and prosecution of perpetrators of criminal acts and war crimes, and "especially acts related to the investigation related to the killing of civilians and prisoners of war in the Lora camp".
"It is about our martyrs from the Nikšić-Šavnik and Bar groups. For more than 30 years, there has not been an adequate investigation on this issue, and the former regime was silent on all this. They did not even come to see off their mortal remains. The agreement from 2006. which was signed by Vesna Medenica and Mladen Bajić puts Montenegro in a humiliating and subordinate position," stated Vučurović.
According to him, the part that concerns the area of application is particularly controversial, where it is said that the provisions of the agreement will be applied only in cases of criminal acts, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Croatia against the citizens of that country, and the perpetrators have residence or citizenship of Montenegro.
"In this way, a direct injustice was done to Montenegro, to the victims of Lora, but also to others who were liquidated by the Croatian military and paramilitary forces. This is one example of how certain structures of the former regime undermined the dignity of Montenegro," he said. is a member of the NSD.
Milović answered this question that his ministry will support every activity of the Montenegrin prosecutor's office to solve war crimes, including those committed against Montenegrin citizens.
"Given that the war was fought on the territory of Croatia, and that none of the signatory countries to the Agreement extradite their citizens, nor is it possible to transfer prosecution in cases of war crimes, it is understandable why the focus of the Agreement between the prosecutorial organizations of the two countries was placed on crimes committed on the territory of Croatia , and for which Montenegrin citizens were responsible. However, this Agreement is not the only framework for considering war crimes. And for the answer to your question, this is a crucial fact," the Minister of Justice assessed.
Vučurović stated that this response is a step forward compared to the previous period.
Member of Parliament of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Sonja Milatović asked Milović whether concrete steps, apart from the formation of the Commission, have been taken on the plan of drafting the Civil Code of Montenegro, and if so, what stage in the said process has been reached and when she expects it to be completed ?
Milović reminded that the Commission was formed in 2018, that the standardization of provisions related to the general part, obligation relations, inheritance and property-legal relations was completed, as well as that the arrangement of legal provisions covering the area of family law and the area of refers to personal rights, and that this will be the end of the preliminary draft of this code.
Milatović also asked the minister whether she supports the Proposal for a Law on Amendments to the Law on the Constitutional Court, which, if adopted, would, according to her, "be a new attempt to add the highest legal act to the laws" and what was the opinion of the Venice Commission on this matter.
"I have said before that we should think about increasing the pension limit because we are very deficient in staff when it comes to the judiciary," said Milović, but he added that first we must communicate with Brussels and the Venice Commission because "it can endanger the European path of Montenegro".
Citizens' Movement MP (GP) URA Filip Adžić said that "it is very unfair that Minister Milović is denied a defense after a series of accusations against him and his exclusion from the party".
"I find it absolutely unacceptable that someone who was not good enough for the law firm where he worked and for the party he was in can be good for all citizens and for the European process, which is a priority for all of us in the Parliament and the Government," Adžić said. reminded of "Milović's promise that he will resign if the head of the Special Police Department, Predrag Šuković, is not dismissed".
The URA MP also said that the Minister of Justice "misled the judges in the Do Kwon case".
Adžić asked Milović if he thinks that the party's interest is more important than the state's and that "trampling on one's own words, knowingly and deliberately misleading the court, protecting criminals and trying to discredit police officers who achieve the best results are values that should be promoted through the work of the 44th Government of Montenegro Up".
Milović replied that the state's interest is above the party's and that is why he is still the minister of justice, and that the results of his department are "extremely clear and measurable" and added that his accusations require treatment before the competent state institutions.
"The address of the Special State Prosecutor's Office is Ulica slobode no. 20 in Podgorica and - if your story is not a function of bad political marketing as it is - I appeal to you to share your knowledge with that institution as soon as possible," he said.
Adžić responded to Milović's statement that he was the "worst-rated minister" and that this rating was given by the citizens.
"The confirmation of how much the international institutions trust you is that South Korea did not inform the Ministry of Justice when the letter was delivered, but delivered it directly to the court," stated Adžić.
Vukićević also recalled the attacks on journalists in Montenegro that have not yet been resolved. She pointed out that the proceedings are being conducted against Vesna Medenica, Slavko Stojanović, Blaž Jovanić... and that all of them had an important role in the prosecution, and Koprivica replied that "the former regime is behind these attacks".
MP of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Miloš Pižurica asked the Minister of Justice, Andrej Milović, what the European Union means to Montenegro and what the Ministry of Justice believes when it comes to negotiating chapter 23.
"I would refer to two points in the negotiations with the EU - May 2020, when we were declared hybrid regimes, partial democracy, and when the accession of Montenegro was supported by 54 percent of the citizens, and October 2023, when we received the worst report from the European Commission on accession negotiations with Montenegro ever. I would say that the governments that led the negotiations at that time did it very badly and that they had more important things to do," Pižurica said and added that European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelji said that "Montenegro is at the door final negotiations with the EU", but also that today "Montenegro's entry into the Union is supported by 80 percent of citizens".
Milović replied that the work to fulfill this chapter includes a series of activities in the fight against corruption, digitization of the judiciary...
He pointed out that the amendments to the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges, the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, the Law on the Special State Prosecutor's Office are very important in this field...
Deputies continued to ask questions to ministers today.
The Deputy Prime Minister for the Political System, Justice and Anti-Corruption, Moma Koprivica, said that it is necessary to free and clean the institutions from crime and corruption, so that the cases do not become obsolete, but to be resolved.
He said this in response to a question from MP Maja Vukićević of the Democratic People's Party (DNP) - whether he is satisfied with the way and dynamics of the fight against corruption and crime and what, in his opinion, are the biggest obstacles in the prosecution of criminal offenses in that area.
She recalled the affairs "Snimak", "Envelope", "Abu Dhabi Fund", "Telekom", "HTP Boka", "Carine", "Kamp Zlatica", "Limenka", "Panama Papers", "Pandora Papers". , "Stanovi", "Možura" and pointed out that "a lot of things remained from the previous period, and that citizens expected it to be solved faster".
Koprivica replied that it is necessary that the institutions be freed and cleansed of crime and corruption, and that such cases do not expire, but that they be resolved.
"The fact that corruption is widespread in many areas. This is not only the subjective feeling of us who fought against the previous government, but it is a fact stated by the European Commission in the report on Montenegro. One of the major obstacles is the fact that we have the overall consequences of an authoritarian and hybrid regime based on corruption and captive institutions, but also a strong symbiosis of organized criminal groups (OCG) and corrupt structures", he answered and added that "in the previous period, especially during the 43rd Government, no strategic document was adopted which relating to the fight against corruption".
He recalled that the OSCE report for the period from June 2021 to June 2023 concluded that "from the confirmation of the indictment in high-level corruption cases to the first productive hearing, 28,6 months pass."
Koprivica announced that there are also limitations arising from the legislative framework, the limited capacities of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), but also that the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) has not had a Council since last year.
"Drafts of systemic laws were drawn up at the level of working groups and all of them were sent to the European Commission, i.e. the Venice Commission for their opinion. Also, a working group was formed that deals with the law on the acquisition of illegal property", said the Deputy Prime Minister and added that, also the National Council for the Fight against Corruption was also formed.
At the end of his presentation, he announced that three new criminal offenses were introduced through the changes to the Criminal Code - abuse in the process of public procurement, bankruptcy and privatization, but also that the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism was adopted, as well as that the Law on games of chance.
Bonus video:
