Amnesty bill submitted by a group of MPs once again fuels serious suspicions of the links between the ruling political structures and the organized crime and grand corruption. With this bill, the MPs seek to additionally lower penalties imposed on persons convicted of the most serious crimes by another quarter. Further lowering of already low penalties represents mocking at the justice and would send another message that the most serious crimes do pay.
In addition, unlike previous amnesty bills, this one does not stipulate that the amnesty does not apply to persons for wanted by the national jurisdiction and those that avoid serving sentence. The amnesty would be applied to Svetozar and Milos Marovic, and the sentences agreed with the prosecutors, the serving of which they have been avoiding, thus mocking at the laws and justice.
The bill on amnesty would release all others condemned members of the so-called Budva criminal group, as well as other perpetrators of crimes of grand corruption from one-fourth of the imposed sentence. In addition, the amnesty would apply to all drug traffickers as well as perpetrators of the most serious crimes, including Damir Mandic, the only person convicted of the murder of Dusko Jovanovic. Furthermore, it would apply to the persons convicted of murder of Slavoljub Scekic and all other murderers.
It is interesting that the bill drafters state that the reason for the adoption of the law is the same intention to lower sentences of persons convicted of the crimes of grand corruption, drug trafficking and assassinations failed when passing the previous law. Therefore, they consider that persons convicted of grand corruption, drug trafficking and assassinations are discriminated and their sentences, ridiculously mild when having in mind the consequences of their criminal acts, should be lowered.
Amnesty is not the right of every convict, as represented by the bill drafters defending the interests of those convicted of grand corruption, organized crime, drug trafficking and most brutal assassinations. Amnesty is a political act of mercy of the Parliament, and it is given exceptionally because it infringes the right of the state to punish, derogates the criminal law and therefore it must not be used widely. Instead of using amnesty in exceptional cases, when specifically justified, the drafters consider that all perpetrators of grand corruption and organized crime have the right to amnesty and that their sentences
must be constantly lowered. Thus the drafters showed their attitude towards corruption and organized crime, which is more likely to stimulate such acts rather than make conditions for their suppression.
Therefore, it is not difficult to conclude what reasons and motives make certain MPs want to give new benefits to all persons convicted of corruption and organized crime. That is why all the MPs that would
vote in favor of such a bill would further strengthen the suspicion that the perpetrators of corruption and organized crime have a decisive influence on them and that decisions in the parliament are made in their personal interest. At the end, we call on all MPs who are not in the service of crime to show it by not supporting the bill that is only in the interest of perpetrators of crimes of corruption and their assistants.
Legal Representative of NGO MANS
Veselin Radulovic, lawyer
