(Podgorica, 27 July 2011) – The initial reactions of Bar’s mayor Žarko Pavičević, who was responding to the criminal charges for organized crime that were filed against him yesterday, only serve to confirm our suspicion that the allegations against him are well founded. This is illustrated by the fact that Pavičević failed to deny a single bit of evidence that was included in the file submitted against him by MANS.
Pavičević is accused of a range of criminal acts that are related to the abuse of power. In committing these acts he also had assistants (who are also charged in this case). These crimes were carried out in an organized way and for a sustained period of time, which are common elements defining organized criminal activity.
The documentation that Pavičević cites in his defense has already been submitted by MANS to the Special State Prosecutor. It is precisely those documents that indicate the ways in which Pavičević and his associates abused power, thereby allowing individuals to retroactively legalize illegally erected buildings.
There is no doubt that Pavičević will now have an opportunity to explain to state prosecutors how the organized structure he headed was established and how it was used for the illegal enrichment of privileged individuals and companies. However, if he truly wishes to engage in polemics concerning the justice of the charges against him filed by MANS, it would be nice of him to provide answers to some basic questions that MANS has been asking of him for more than a year now.
It would be good to hear how he justifies the fact that he and Miodrag Đurović first illegally erected, then afterwords, legalized a construction project by wasting municipal funds to alter local planning documents. In relation to such actions, Pavičević could also clarify how he ensured that an extra two floors on this building not be demolished and whether he communicated with Branimir Gvozdenović to this end. Gvozdenović is Pavičević’s “friend” in the organized structure that was mapped-out by MANS recently and submitted as part of yesterday’s evidence in the case.
Pavičević could also perhaps explain what interest is served for Bar’s citizens by legalizing two illegally build buildings for the company Longrun Invest or in allowing FADIS and Komerc Keka to illegally build additional floors. The interest of Bar’s citizens is also hard to recognize in the fact that Pavičević delegated to his own company, ZIB, the task of preparing plans for a construction project involving parcels of land also owned by this company. Similarly, he could explain what interest is served for Bar’s citizens in allowing Aco Đukanović, the brother of Pavičević’s party boss in the DPS, to build three times the initially permitted surface of residential and business premises in the municipality.
It wouldn’t hurt to also hear how he managed to sell property belonging to the company “Tehnopromet,” with the help of the Bar Cadastre, or how he also engaged their assistance in acquiring 270,000 m2 of municipal land for ZIB. Pavičević could also explain his dealings with the Postal Service of Montenegro (PSoM) and the channels through which he managed to ensure that a contract for a new PSoM building not be canceled. This is particularly surprising in light of the fact that after three years of not meeting any established deadlines in the PSoM contract no structure has yet been erected at the designated location. On the other hand, the director of the Postal Service Milan Martinović – who continues to claim that everything is being done in accordance with the law – could explain what he’s been doing for the past three years and why he hasn’t taken the ZIB to task for violations of their standing contract.
MANS has been looking for answers to these questions by launching an investigation lasting the past several months. Many of the answers to our questions can actually be found in the documentation that Pavičević cites in his defense. Yesterday, along with the charges it filed, MANS also submitted to the Special Prosecutor, Đurđina Ivanović, some 86 pieces of evidence numbering over 200 pages (including contracts signed by Pavičević in the name of the Municipality of Bar and the ZIB, planning documentation and protocols that enabled the legalization of illegally erected buildings and other official documents that indicate the nature of relations between Pavičević and associated figures).
In so far as Pavičević is not prepared to publicly speak about what has been happening in Bar during his tenure or to take responsibility for his actions, all that remains is the hope that Pavičević will “have faith in state bodies” as much as some of his colleagues in other Montenegrin municipalities did.
MANS expects that the Special Prosecutor’s Office will avoid delaying the pretrial hearings, which would enable Pavičević to exercise his influence over the evidence and potential witnesses. We are convinced that there currently exists enough evidence to proceed immediately with a full investigation into the Pavičević case.
