Montenegrin prosecution absolutely is not ready to provide the minimum functioning of the rule of law when it comes to the electoral process, and the first answers that we received to the criminal complaints filed shortly after the elections show that this institution continues with the practice “head in the sand’ when it comes to political corruption.
Yesterday MANS received a response to the first three criminal charges from over hundred that we have filed for crimes committed on the election day and right before the local elections. Criminal charges for which we got the first answers relate to three polling stations in neighborhood Tolosi in Podgorica – “Youth House” 5A, 5B and 5C, where our observers among other complaints reported that it was kept illegal report of the voters who voted.
In response to criminal complaints the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica invited us to collect additional evidence for keeping a record on mentioned polling stations, actually MANS to supplement criminal charge.
This response of the prosecution is more than hypocritical heaving in mind that MANS during the whole election day invited the prosecution to react on numerous violations of the electoral process, and specific incidents that occurred on and near polling stations. Instead to react immediately, the office of the Supreme State Prosecutor was locked on the election day, despite the fact that MANS even before the elections warned that there will be obligations for the prosecution on the election day. If the prosecutor on that day performed his job, maybe he would have had more information about how the law was violated on the election day and who are the perpetrators.
Instead, the prosecution now is requesting from MANS to do police job and to collect additional evidence for the reported crimes. MANS does not have police authority and it can not arrest people and interrogate witnesses, which is primarily job of the police and the prosecution. In the legally regulated states it is sufficient to tell to the competent bodies that you know that a crime occurred, and the rest of the job on collection of information and evidence performs the police and prosecution.
In Montenegro even if you provide evidence as it was the case with purchase of ID cards, the prosecution is concerned about the fact how MANS got the evidence, but not about how the crime was committed and who committed it.
Keeping illegal record is the most common violation of the law recorded on almost all polling stations during the local elections, and the competent prosecutor could find out about it by simply going on any polling place. Instead, it was decided the office of the prosecutor to be locked on election day.
Unfortunately, we are again in the position to teach the Supreme State Prosecutor what is his job, and instead of the police to file criminal complaints, because on the election day not even one criminal compliant was filed ex officio by the prosecution, which is a trend that continues when it comes to political corruption.
When it comes to a specific criminal complaint, information that MANS submitted to the prosecution are sufficient to start with process so-called preliminary investigation in which the prosecution should first take statements from the president and members of electoral committees who were responsible for the election process at the mentioned polling stations, and question them about circumstances on illegally kept records of voters, collect and take an insight in the records, and a whole chain of actions that involved in the investigation.
With such “processing” of political corruption the prosecution continues to hold a practice “head in the sand”, that has been established since the affair “Snapshot”, and by doing that sends the massage to all of those who commit filthy jobs that in the Montenegrin prosecution they absolutely have no enemy, or any obstacle.
MANS so far filed to the Montenegrin prosecutor’s office over 100 individual criminal complaints which relate on the local elections and we expect that the number will be even higher after all information are processed.
MANS
