Illegal surveillance of journalists and public figures in 2020, the propaganda use of the Udar portal, as well as the failure of institutions to respond — were the focus of a panel discussion by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), which reveals the mechanisms of abuse of the National Security Agency (ANB) for political purposes during the rule of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
Despite the legal proceedings, key questions about responsibility and the actual principals remain unanswered.
Illegal secret surveillance measures, texts on the Udar portal, which discredited representatives of the then opposition, activists, priests, and journalists in 2020, are just some of the examples of how the ANB abused its powers during the DPS government.
We still haven't received an answer to the question of who was behind the coup.
This was stated at a panel discussion organized by BIRN Montenegro.
"We do not have any final decision to sanction any people related to what happened. We only have hints, open processes. Some people who are connected to the Udar portal have been reinstated to their jobs, similar jobs," said Dritan Abazović, president of the Civic Movement URA.
From the beginning of 2020 until the elections on August 30 of that year, Petar Komnenić, the editor of the show "Načisto" on Television Vijesti, was illegally under secret surveillance measures.
Former ANB director Dejan Peruničić is on trial before the Higher Court in Podgorica for abuse of official position and illegal wiretapping and monitoring of numerous figures from Montenegrin public life.
Komnenić sees him as a pawn in the whole story, and five years later he does not think that the ANB has been reformed in the right way, which he says is evidenced by the appointment of Ivica Janović as acting director of the ANB.
"They brought to the head of the service a man who until yesterday was taking care of the daily supplies of towels and toilet paper in a hostel in Budva, just because he has godfather, friendly, and family ties with the Europe Now Movement. Which raises suspicions that their intention is the same as that of the previous system," said Komnenić.
Therefore, without systemic changes, we cannot hope for a better situation in the security sector, but also in the judiciary, says lawyer Veselin Radulović. He suggests vetting as a solution.
"Veting must be implemented at least in phases, starting from the top, because if you scratch that and if you break that chain, that scheme between the top of the judiciary, the prosecution and the legal profession, only then will you have taken the first step towards freeing the entire judiciary," said Radulović.
At the panel "Surveillance Measures and Censorship in the Digital Space", based on BIRN research, Deputy Ombudsman of Human Rights and Freedoms of Montenegro Mirjana Radović stated that the response of institutions is the common denominator of all examples of unlawful surveillance.
She pointed out that changes in institutions were not fast enough, but that there were enough individuals who were doing their jobs well.
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