Latest statement by the Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC) once again confirms that this institution is irreversibly compromised and that its responsible persons continuously make illegal decisions and contempt court verdicts. Let me once again remind that the Administrative Court, in the verdict with which it annulled the previous decision of the APC clearly indicated that Vanja Ćalović Marković did not realize the increase in earnings under the contract that MANS concluded with the EU Delegation, that this contract and the obligations from it do not at all indicate the amount of salary of Vanja Ćalović Marković and that Vanja Ćalović Marković did not participate in deciding on MANS’ complaints because something like that was not on the agenda of the session of the Agency Council, and not at all under the authority of the Council.
Nevertheless, the Agency for Prevention of Corruption re-announced the proven false allegations that Vanja Ćalović Marković significantly increased her income and implemented private business plans. In this way, the Agency did what was announced even before the implementation of the procedure and presentation of the evidence, thus best illustrating to what extent it is interested in respecting the law and properly establishing the factual situation. This is why the Agency excluded the public from this procedure and why it has not been able to state for two years in what way Vanja Ćalović Marković violated the law.
In addition to the allegations that the Administrative Court already found to be untrue, the Agency continues with practice of presenting new groundless allegations to which Vanja Ćalović Marković is again unable to respond. Thus, the Agency now arbitrarily and unjustly claims that MANS submitted complaints in order to obtain personal profit and a fictitious justification of the obtained funds to donors, as well as in order to obstruct the work of the Agency. Of course, the Agency does not cite evidence on the basis of which it has made these conclusions, nor has in that regard requested evidence from the EU Delegation which, as a donor, certainly checked in what way and for what purpose the funds allocated under the contract with MANS were spent.
Also, the Agency does not specify on the basis of which it made arbitrary and untrue conclusion that Vanja Ćalović Marković tried to gain a special status for herself and her NGO and in what way she did that, as well as on the basis of which it found out that Vanja Ćalović Marković’s aim was to present to the public that the 2016 election process was followed by a large number of irregularities and that the Agency was not able to meet the legally defined obligations.
In this regard, I would like to remind that, apart from Vanja Ćalović Marković, the European Commission has repeatedly given a critical evaluation of the work of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise why the Agency is persistently trying to accuse also the EU Delegation of having concluded a contract with MANS in order to submit unfounded reports and obstruct the work of the Agency. That is why allegations at the end of the Agency’s statement in which it speaks of the trust of citizens in its work and the quality and efficiency of work do not deserve a serious comment because the previous work of the Agency has been undoubtedly marked by making of illegal decisions and persecution of those who discover election abuses and illegalities in financing of the ruling political party.
We will certainly launch an administrative dispute before the Administrative Court Against the new decision of the Agency, where we will ask that the Administrative Court confirm opinions from the previous verdict and that this dispute be settled now in meritum, in order to finally put an end to fabricating of new charges by the Agency.
Legal representative of Vanja Ćalović Marković:
Veselin Radulović, lawyer from Podgorica
