The President of the Supreme Court, Vesna Medenica, is obliged to provide the competent institutions and the public of Montenegro with answers to questions regarding the financial transaction with controversial businessman Zoran Bećirović.
Yesterday, MANS Investigative Centre presented clear evidence to the public that Vesena Medenica violated the law by not reporting a change in the property records, and committed a severe disciplinary offense as a holder of judicial office.
The mere fact that for four years she has been covering business transaction with Bećirović from the public is sufficient for the ex officio response of the competent authorities, however, the very silence of Vesna Medenica is absolutely unacceptable, and the absence of any reaction or denial opens additional room for doubt in the legality of the entire business.
Vesna Medenica has been a public official in the judicial system of Montenegro for almost four decades and we believe that she is sufficiently aware of the need for holders of these offices to enjoy the reputation and trust of the citizens they serve. All the more so, what is surprising is her decision to deny the citizens who are paying her of any comment, let alone apologize for the apparent violation of the law.
However, we remind Medenica that as the highest public official, at any moment she can be called on to address the public and explain her actions, but also that the doubt in legality of the nearly €139,000 worth transaction is just one of those moments in her career.
In this regard, we expect Medenica to explain without delay to the public whether she knew who was behind the company to whom she had sold the land, who had done the land valuation, i.e. who had set the price of €139 thousand. It would also be good to know whether Medenica was aware that the company to which she had sold the land had been at a loss for years, and that in the year it bought the land from her, its turnover was only one Euro.
What is also unknown is from which account €139 thousand was deposited into Vesna Medenica’s bank account at Prva Banka. Bearing in mind that Cypriot offshore company owned by Zoran Bećirović is behind the company to which the land was sold, the question is whether Medenica knows where the money she received for the land came from.
When it comes to the origin of the money, we believe that Medenica should be concerned about the fact that companies and their owner are mentioned in the public mainly in the context of suspicions of money laundering and corruption. It would certainly be interesting to know if Prva Banka reported the transaction between Medenica and Bećirović’s companies as suspicious.
Although in legally regulated states, the mere suspicion of a violation of the law by the first person of the judicial system is sufficient reason for the competent institutions to engage in a thorough checking of all allegations made regarding Medenica, we hereby once again urge Montenegro’s State Prosecutor’s Office to immediately enable Medenica to explain her behaviour and provide more information on how she negotiated the sale of the land with Bećirović.
In any case, we believe that the silence of Medenica must cease, as it seriously undermines already shattered public trust in the public office she performs, which must be above her private interest to hide information about her affairs.
MANS
