(Podgorica, 27 December 2011) – MANS welcomes the prosecution of former Ulcinj mayor Gazim Hajdinaga in relation to the now infamous utilities contracts that we released a few weeks ago on our website. Along these lines, we expect the Special State Prosecutor for Organized Crime and Corruption, Đurđina Ivanović, to process this case without further delay.
According to Police Department reports, Hajdinaga is being charged with abuse of office in connection with the advance collection of utilities bills at locations for which no plan existed, while Naser Kelmendi is charged with the crime of illegal construction.
Although it is good that the Police Department is slowly beginning to recognize its role in the fight against corruption and organized crime, the fact that this struggle remains highly selective is a cause for concern. Such a selective approach leaves ample room for doubts that recent moves in the right direction aren’t motivated by a desire for the better implementation of the rule of law.
For more than 18 months now, the police and the prosecutor’s office have disposed of precise information on identical legal and regulatory violations committed by Bar’s mayor Žarko Pavićević (who like Hajdinaga made deals on utility payments with several companies whose illegally built buildings were supposed to be drawn into the planning documentation). Similarly, police and prosecutors have information on similar contracts concluded by former Budva functionaries Rajko Kuljača and Dragan Marović with investors in Perazić Dol, where some 400,000 euros were charged.
Until now, according to information available to MANS, the police and prosecutors have not seriously engaged with these cases in spite of the fact these crimes are prosecuted ex oficio.
When it comes to the charges laid against Naser Kelmendi, it is incredible that he is only being charged with illegal construction and that the police didn’t find the payments he made into the Municipality of Ulcinj’s coffers similarly suspicious given the likely origins of this money given Kelmendi’s reputation.
MANS has already released the entirety of the relevant documentation on its website, including agreements with investors, as well as documentation relating to Kelmendi’s case (including cash payments he made directly into the Municipality of Ulcinj’s accounts). None of this seems to have been of interest to the Police Department during their own ‘investigation’ into this case, nor has anyone from that institution contacted MANS in connection with the details we released to the media recently.
MANS expects the Special Prosecutor to directly address the sources of Kelmendi’s money as well during pre-trial proceedings and not merely remain circumscribed to looking at his illegal construction deals in Ulcinj.
The fight against corruption and organized crime must be constantly and consistently taken up by Montenegro’s police and prosecutors and should never be reduced to individual actions launched whenever it suits those in power. Proceedings launched on the basis of poorly conducted investigations and based on semi-proofs ultimately make a mockery of such trials.
