The parties of the new majority do not hesitate to take credit for the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), which could politicize the investigation and court proceedings so that those accused of serious organized crime in the defense and in the public can invoke retaliation and revenge.
This is what the director of the Research Center of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) told the "News". Dejan Milovac commenting on politicians' reactions to the arrest of the former chief special prosecutor Milivoj Katnić and former assistant director of the Police Administration Zoran Lazović.
Katnić and Lazović were arrested on Sunday morning, by order of the SDT, which suspects them of creating a criminal organization and abuse of official position. SDT Lazović suspects that he approved the opening of the Montenegrin border for the entry of mercenaries from the Kavački clan Veljko Belivuk i Marko Miljkovic and for rescue Duško Roganovića serious accusations, and Katnić that he helped him in that.
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The arrest was followed by the reactions of politicians, with parties in power and some opposition parties welcoming the arrest, giving the impression that they are bragging about SDT's results as their own, while the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) announced that it was a continuation of the practice of revanchism that has been going on for 30 August, which aims to criminalize the previous government at all costs, with the ambition to overturn, in addition to political damage, the indictment in the case of a coup.
Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties (CEGAS) Marija Popović Kalezić says that political actors, by their actions and public appearances regarding the apprehension, detention, filing and confirmation of indictments, as well as other procedural actions, must understand that they are sending a message of misunderstanding of their own, and then also the competences of the police, prosecutor's office and the judiciary.
He says that they will show enough political maturity when they make a full contribution within their jurisdiction.
"If we started the fight against organized crime and corruption, and along the way created an environment for the establishment of the rule of law, then it is clear that the work of the police, the prosecution and the judiciary must not be hindered, but that adequate conditions must be created for them, so that their work was more effective and professional", Popović Kalezić told "Vijesta".
Milovac says that it is not uncommon to try to take credit for someone else's work in the absence of one's own results, and this was quite evident during the previous prime minister's government. Dritan Abazović whose party led the way in this.
"That practice was so domesticated during the so-called technical mandate, that an attempt was made to create a cult of personality and some kind of imaginary 'hand of justice' from which 'there is no peaceful sleep'. All of this is part of political folklore that has unfortunately replaced real support for SDT's work, both when it comes to the legislative framework and the spatial and technical conditions for work," Milovac said.
As he added, the arrest of Katnić and Lazović showed that such practice did not disappear with the departure of Abazović from power, and that the political parties that make up the new majority do not shy away from taking credit for others.
"I don't think that SDT's independence is significantly threatened by this, and that part of the dangerous political pressures are taking place outside the eyes of the public and the public scene. What exists as a real harm is that the investigation and tomorrow's court proceedings are politicized to the extent that those accused of serious organized crime find room in their defense to present it as revenge and revenge, exactly as DPS already did in the first reaction to the arrest of Katnić and Lazović," Milovac said.
The DPS announced that "the indictments were written on the front pages of the media, which are exclusively and illegally in possession of suspicious Sky materials and documents from the National Security Agency."
"SDT's action is a continuation of the practice of revanchism that has been going on since August 30, and which aims to criminalize the previous government at any cost," said the party.
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This is not the first time that the DPS has commented on the arrests of people close to that party, but it is the first time that the actions of the SDT have been characterized as "revengeism".
Former President of Montenegro and former leader of DPS Milo Djukanovic he said in 2022, on the occasion of the arrest of the leader of "Plantaž" Verice Maraš i Veselin Vukotić, that they "performed important tasks for a significant period of time and he always had respect for that."
"Starting from the presumption of innocence, I hope that the allegations are not true because my experience with them is very positive and they have always respected the legal system of Montenegro," he said.
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The hand of justice, teamwork, the right path...
Former Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic he assessed on Sunday that the arrest of Katnić and Lazović was a great day for justice.
"After so many years of battle, persecution, propaganda, untruths and subterfuge from Lazović, Katnić and their numerous helpers, as I mentioned, the truth has found its way," said Abazović, who for years called Lazović the head of the "criminal octopus" and whom he sued for alleged defamation.
His party colleague and former Minister of the Interior Filip Adzic he said the day before yesterday that the "hand of justice" works regardless of obstructions. He said last night on the show "Nachisto" that he was a little surprised by the reaction of the supreme state prosecutor Milorad Marković (VDT), because he believes that this was an example where 80-90 percent of the parties, either the government or the opposition, gave full support to the prosecution to work. The day before yesterday, Marković criticized the politicians' comments, saying that everyone should work on the rule of law within their competences.
Last night, Adžić said that the election of VDT and GST was due to the majority that gave the necessary support within the parliament and that all the parties that are now in power except for the Europe Now Movement (PES) contributed.
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Leader of the Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister Aleksa Becic the day before yesterday he congratulated "all brave members of the security sector and SDT who worked with quality and dedication on the preparation and implementation of the action".
"As the coordinator of the intelligence and security sector and the deputy prime minister for security, I am proud of your commitment, courage and determination to rid this beautiful country of organized crime and corruption. We continue uncompromisingly, as a team and with determination, because the fight for a country with strong institutions and the rule of law is the greatest patriotic duty", said Bečić, announcing that he and the Minister of Police would Danilo Šaranović (Democrats) to travel to visit Europol headquarters in The Hague.
Šaranović announced that the arrest of Katnić and Lazović was "proof of the security sector's uncompromising commitment to building a state of free institutions and the rule of law."
Deputy Prime Minister Momo Koprivica (Democrats), stated that the prosecution of Katnić and Lazović represents "a big step in freeing institutions from criminal centers of power".
He said that the extent to which state institutions were criminalized until the dismissal of the DPS almost four years ago is shown by the actions in which, in addition to Katnić and Lazović, the former president of the Supreme Court has been arrested so far Vesna Medenica, former president of the Commercial Court Blazo Jovanić, and two former police directors, Veselin Veljović i Slavko Stojanovic.
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Spokesman of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) Mirko Miličić, said that that party and the former Democratic Front were the victims and the biggest fighters against the political persecution carried out by the Katnić-Lazović duo.
He said that, as people who have been fighting for justice for years, the action serves as proof of the correctness of their idea and the importance of electing new people in the prosecution organization.
The Democratic People's Party (DNP) said that the arrest of Katnić and Lazović is another proof of "the right path of Montenegro towards the rule of law".
The Socialist People's Party (SNP) said that the time has passed when organized crime and corruption went unpunished.
"We expect that this process will also lead to the prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators of the crime against (the Federal Minister of Defense) Pavle Bulatović and (editor of the newspaper "Dan") Duško Jovanović...", they announced.
Leader of True Montenegro Marko Milacic, announced that the arrest of Katnić and Lazović represents "another great victory over the mafia in Montenegro".
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Prime Minister Milojko Spajic he also welcomed the arrest, but said that each branch of government must do its job with the motive of reaching a common goal through effective cooperation.
"For the professional and highly responsible work of the prosecution, the Government and the administration will continue to provide adequate conditions and support, so that the rule of law is applied efficiently and to the full extent," Spajić wrote on the X network.
VDT Marković said on Sunday, after the reactions of the parties, that the establishment of the rule of law is the task of all institutions and social actors in Montenegro, and that everyone should work together to improve it, but each within their competences defined by the Constitution and the law.
"The comments of political subjects and holders of public office, on the occasion of the implementation of the prosecutorial-police action in which two persons (M. K and ZL) were deprived of their liberty, represent a circumstance that could give the public the impression of endangering the independence of the prosecutor's office, to which the state prosecutor's organization resolutely opposes opposes," said Marković.
President of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Ivan Vujović he said on Sunday that the Prosecutor's Office should be allowed to do its work.
"The support and responsibility of the Prosecutor's Office, the parties not to appropriate their results. VDT Marković's position is systemic and the only correct one. It would be a matter of principle for some parties to have the same attitude when their officials are arrested. Then it's quiet. Let's let the Prosecutor's Office do its job," Vujović announced on the X social network.
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Applications were submitted by Milačić and Milošević in 2021, Koprivica says he deserves it
The criminal complaint to the SDT against Lazović due to the "Belivuk" case was filed by Marko Milačić in September 2021, while Katnić was the head of the SDT, then in March 2023, during Novović's mandate.
In October 2021, the former State Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rade Milošević, filed a report against the SI border police officer on suspicion that she abused her official position by lifting the entry ban on Belivuk and Miljković. After that, several officers of the Police Administration were arrested.
SDT, however, rejected the application, which is why Milosevic wrote complaints, which were also rejected.
Deputy Prime Minister Momo Koprivica said that Lazović was arrested after accusations that he initiated at the Committee for Political System, Judiciary and Administration in April last year, as the then president of that parliamentary body, about the lifting of the ban on Belivuk entering Montenegro.
His party leader Bečić, as announced by the DCG, was followed in October 2021 while he was the President of the Assembly by a fugitive police officer connected to the Kavaka clan Ljubo Milović, and after Bečić publicly mentioned Lazović and Belivuk in August of that year. A police note was made about it.
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