Once more the Ministry of Interior has denied MANS the access to the Contract on Procurement of the AFIS System, despite the fact that the Administrative Court decided in our favor, thus rendering void the previous decision of the MoI, which also denied our access to the aforementioned contract.
The new decision of the MoI, again signed by Zora Cizmovic, the head of the Section for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information, says that the contract on procurement of the AFIS system is classified as „internal“ by the criminal police section and cannot be delivered as such. The criminal police has informed the MoI that publishing the contract on procurement of the AFIS system could „compromise fingerprints“ and its „publishing would result in many harmful consequences to the function of that body.“
By producing such statements, Cizmovic has fully repeated the arguments from the previous decision of the MoI, which the Administrative Court deemed unlawful, after we had filed a complaint. Moreover, such explanation is not only against the Constitution and the Law on Free Access to Information, but also against all logic.
The contract on procurement of the AFIS system is a legal affair and as such it does not contain any fingerprints of any Montenegrin citizen. Therefore, the statement that publishing the contract would “compromise fingerprints” is completely unreasonable. Furthermore, even if there were any information in the contract that could be deemed secret, the MoI is legally bound to submit the contract, while previously removing those information which is deemed secret.
It must not be forgotten that the procurement of the AFIS system, which cost nearly €2 million, is paid from the budget of Montenegro, with the citizens’ money, which is another reason why the contract must be made publicly available.
Finally, having in mind the fact the implementation of the AFIS system is regarded as one of the solutions that should reduce the number of double ID documents and, therefore, the number of double voters in the electoral register, it is beyond any doubt that it is in the interest of every citizen to be informed about the contribution of the implementation of the AFIS system to the free elections in Montenegro.
However, all these arguments were not sufficient for Cizmovic to act in accordance with law this time and publish the Contract on Procurement of the AFIS System. Instead, she has decided to keep it out of the public eyes. Thus, the damage to the efforts to build trust in the Montenegrin election process, which has already been seriously shattered by illegal acts of various state bodies and individuals in charge of them.
Bearing in mind that this new decision of the Ministry of Interior is contrary to the Constitution and the Law on Free Access to Information, as well as with a number of international conventions and regulations that guarantee the right of free access to information held by state bodies, MANS will file a complaint against the Ministry of Interior to the Administrative Court and seek an urgent decision, so as to ensure the public access to all data about the procurement of the AFIS system.
Vuk Maras
Monitoring Program Director
