Message from the former President of Montenegro and the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Milo Đukanović that the latest arrests of former and current high-ranking government officials could result in revenge is a sign of his concern for his freedom and property.
This is what the director of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) told "Vijesta" yesterday. Vanja Ćalović Marković, saying that Đukanović's assessments, in which he also mentions blood revenge, are worrisome and frightening.
Speaking about the latest arrests of current and former officials, Đukanović said in an interview with Antena M that "we live in a highly poisoned atmosphere", which shows that "the blackmail in Montenegro will continue". He stated that he is warning about this because Montenegrin society is a "society of avengers".
He says that this is not characteristic "only for Albanian communities, which are mostly associated with blood feuds", but that it should be remembered that "in the heart of Montenegro, in Katunska Nahija, blood feuds between certain Old Montenegrin families have been going on for more than 200 years".
"Well, those who don't know that don't understand how dangerous it is when your only policy after coming to power becomes revanchism. Revanchism is just a political name for revenge. This means that there is no awareness that a line should be drawn under the Montenegrin practice of revenge. The one who is doing what he is doing now does not realize that he has already started a new page of Montenegrin revenges. And he is making a big mistake if he does not recognize his handcuffs tomorrow in those handcuffs he is gloating over, on the hands of other people," Đukanović said.
Ćalović Marković assesses that Đukanović's statement confirms that he is very concerned about the recent arrests of officials from the time of the DPS government - a former high-ranking police official Zoran Lazović and former Chief Special Prosecutor (GST) Milivoj Katnić. That is, as Ćalović Marković calls them, Đukanović's "close associate" (Lazović) and "keeper of dark secrets" (Katnić). The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) charges them with creating a criminal organization and abuse of office, that is, with participation in a criminal organization.
Ćalović Marković reminds that in the fall of 2020, immediately after the fall of the three-decade DPS government, Đukanović said that he would "defend" Montenegro "even from the forest if necessary", and that he then entered a "much calmer phase, probably convinced that there will be nothing from the proceedings against him, his family and persons close to him". However, the interlocutor says that she thinks that the former head of state was very worried about where SDT's actions could lead after the deprivation of freedom of Lazović and Katnić.
"And will it happen that he (Đukanović) or one of his other closest associates will be the next on the list of those arrested", said Ćalović Marković, adding that she believed that Đukanović was also worried about the arrest of the businessman Aleksandar Mijajlović, whom the SDT charges with the creation of a criminal organization and cigarette smuggling, and the initiation of proceedings against the so-called of the "Grand" clan.
"Because I am convinced that those roads also lead to Đukanović. That's why I interpret his statement primarily as the expression of a man who is very worried about his freedom and property", said the director of MANS.
Đukanović's office and DPS did not respond to "Vijesta", which is why the former president claims that "political revanchism is on the scene as a new page of the tradition of Montenegrin revenges", and whether they think that these messages, along with the mention of "blood revenge", represent a threat to the prosecution.
This is not the first time that Đukanović mentions some form of customary law, given that ten years ago an attack by a businessman Veselin Pejović to the then deputy They will not fear Medojević (Movement for Change) characterized as preserving honor by customary law, because the state did not regulate relations in the legal system. He then assessed that there could be more similar incidents, because there are "a lot of people who respect their honor and do not allow systematic defamation".
Đukanović's latest evaluations followed only a few days after the DPS's never harsher reaction to the arrests of former and current officials. Although those from that party last year and the year before last, after the arrest of officials from the time of their three-decade rule, mostly avoided directly criticizing the SDT, now for the first time they focused their criticism dominantly on the Special Prosecutor's Office and the head of that institution Vladimir Novović.
Ćalović Marković says that Đukanović's messages introduce Montenegrin society into the era of "dramatic radicalization of the DPS", which, according to her, is evidently still managed by the former boss. He claims that all this is being done in order to save from prosecution those who were involved in high level corruption and organized crime.
The interlocutor therefore assesses that Đukanović's statement is primarily a "dangerous message" to GST Novović, who, she says, had enough courage to initiate proceedings against persons close to the former president of the state.
"That's why I'm worried about how the DPS will continue to behave, bearing in mind that they still control a significant number of people within the institutions of the system, including the most sensitive ones such as the National Security Agency, the police, but also the prosecution and the judiciary. It is obvious that there are strong links between certain parts of that party and the structures of organized crime," states Ćalović Marković.
Member of Parliament of the Socialist People's Party (SNP) Sladjana Kaluđerović, yesterday called on the judicial authorities to examine whether Đukanović's performance contained elements of criminal acts of inciting national, racial and religious hatred, discord or intolerance, i.e. inciting panic and disorder.
"I am sure that our society is democratically mature enough and will not fall for Đukanović's provocations, even though it turned out that peace, stability and governance are a real bone in the throat of the former DPS leader who is trying in every way to destabilize Montenegro, otherwise that way he avoided responsibility for decades of looting the state," she said.
The Civil Movement (GP) URA said that it provides sincere support to GST Novović, the head of the Special Police Department Predrag Šuković and to all employees of the SDT "to continue with the started activities towards achieving the rule of law and the comprehensive fight against organized crime and corruption".
SDT suspects Lazović of having approved the opening of the Montenegrin border for mercenaries from the Kavački clan to enter the country Veljko Belivuk i Marko Miljkovic, and saved a member of that criminal organization Duško Roganovića serious accusations. Katnić allegedly helped him in this.
Last week, the Higher Court in Podgorica ordered Lazović and Katnić to be detained for thirty days.
A protest was held in front of the SDT building the day before yesterday, from which it was requested that Katnić, who has been on hunger strike since his detention, defend himself from freedom. Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković, said yesterday that any reactions to the work of the State Prosecutor's Office will not affect the way it will act and "will not make the State Prosecutor's Organization act differently than only in accordance with the law and the Constitution".
ODT: Higher prosecutor's office to assess whether to file a case
The Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT) Podgorica will not open a case due to Đukanović's statements because, as it was unofficially explained to "Vijesta", there are no crimes under the jurisdiction of the ODT.
After consideration, the duty prosecutor of the ODT Podgorica, Romina Vlahović, told the police to notify the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica to assess whether they will file a case and whether there are crimes under their jurisdiction.
Yesterday afternoon, "Vijesti" sent questions to the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica about whether they had opened a case, but the answer had not arrived by the time this issue of the newspaper was closed.
Lazović: If I fail to complete my mission, the successors will complete it
Zoran Lazović said while he was at liberty that he would protect his family, and announced that if he was unable to do so, someone would do it for him.
He said this to journalists in Ulcinj, after one of the hearings before the basic court there, at the trial of former Prime Minister Dritan Abazović.
Lazović sued Abazović for violation of personal rights, that is, because the former prime minister brought him into connection with crime.
“As the oldest member of my family after my uncle, I have an obligation to protect my family, children and grandchildren, and I will do so as long as I live. I embarked on the most significant mission of my life. If I don't manage to finish it, my successors will finish it," said Lazović.
Ćalović Marković: It is clear that many were not prosecuted at the time of the DPS
Ćalović Marković assesses that the presence of Đukanović and high-ranking DPS officials at the funeral of businessman Branislav Mićunović is also not a message "related to the rule of law and respect for European values."
She says that this confirms what MANS has been pointing out for years - that there are connections and cooperation between Đukanović and persons who are considered to be at the very top of the criminal hierarchy.
DON'T MISS IT
"This is particularly worrisome considering two things: first, that Mićunović was labeled as a person involved in crime by the United States of America, which most certainly has a lot of detailed information; secondly, that funeral was attended by the newly elected president of DPS (Danijel Živković), a party that claimed to have reformed", she pointed out, adding that it becomes clearer why many businessmen were never prosecuted during DPS's rule.
Mićunović had a developed business in Montenegro, but he was most often mentioned as a person who managed organized crime, which he repeatedly denied.
Bonus video:
