Heroin, which is transported by waterways from Turkey to Western Europe, passes Albania, but also uses Montenegrin waters, said Fatjona Mejdini, coordinator of the Balkan Global initiative against transnational organized crime.
She speaks at the conference "National Dialogue on Resistance to Organized Crime in Montenegro" organized by GI TOC and the Association of Professional Journalists of Montenegro.
Speaking about money laundering, illegal migration, drug smuggling..., Mejdini said that the investigation of illegal money flows showed that the money acquired by criminals is most often put into legal flows with the help of casinos, but also in the construction business.
The coordinator of GI -TOC for Serbia and Montenegro, Saša Đorđević, said that, among the countries of the region, Serbia and Montenegro are in first and second place in terms of crime rate.
"In Montenegro, in the last two years, there has been an increase in the consumption of cocaine, and the two main dangers are drug smuggling and arms smuggling, Đorđević said.
Director of the Research Center of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) Dejan Milovac said that for years Montenegro has had the epithet of a safe mafia house and that this "unfortunate epithet" has been placed alongside Montenegro in the reports of many serious organizations.
Milovac assessed that Darko Šarić would have fared much better if he had been tried in Montenegro, citing examples of the trials of his brother Duško and Safet Kalić.
He called those actions "washing of the biography" stating that they now have the status of free citizens and the possibility to collect compensation from the citizens.
He pointed out that no one was held accountable for that.
Milovac said that there will be no justice in Montenegro even after August 30, 2020, and he also cited an example of the bad behavior of the prosecution in the Budva cases, in which a plea agreement was signed with the head of that crime group, Svetozar Marović.
"The fight against corruption and organized crime is now captured by political interests that do not allow us to have the reform we need," Milovac said.
He called the seizure of 1,4 tons of cocaine "ordinary marketing", arguing that today no one can say where that cocaine should have ended up.
Vujović: Getting into addiction doesn't cost much, while addiction does
Ivana Vujović from the non-governmental organization (NGO) Juventas said that now in Montenegro the price of a gram of heroin is between 15 and 20 euros, explaining that "getting addicted doesn't cost much, while addiction costs".
She said that it is precisely this substance that complicates personal and family life the most.
"A gram of cocaine in Montenegro costs between 50 and 60 euros," said Vujović.
Vujović also criticized the problem of resocialization of prisoners, the education system and corruption in it, party employment in education "which has been going on for 30 years and which has continued"...
He claims that in every school a certain professor can be "pressured" to improve the grade, adding that no one wants to solve it.
Jonica: The only message we see now is that the fight against crime is not worth it
The president of the Socialists, Snežana Jonica, asked how much time or steps it would take, with this tendency, for Montenegro to send a message that crime does not pay.
"The only message we see now is that the fight against crime does not pay," she said, citing the example of paying compensation for the failed court proceedings against Kalić.
"It will turn out that the damage from that fight is much greater," she said, adding that she has the impression that at the moment no one in the country is looking for a solution.
Živković: Public authorities in a society that strives for democracy must understand that the role of the media is to criticize
Lawyer Maja Živković said that the state authorities, in a society that strives for democracy, must understand that the role of the media is to criticize, in order to improve things, and that office holders do not need to experience this personally.
In the second part of the conference, the fight against organized crime and corruption in Montenegro is planned to be discussed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Security Service Coordinator Dritan Abazović, Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnić, Director of the Police Administration Zoran Brđanin, lawyer Maja Živković and President of the Institute of Alternatives Stevo Muk.
Bonus video:
