“What is certain is that his election will ensure the continuation of the previous disastrous results of that institution in the fight against corruption. I do not see that a different scenario is possible given that Milašinović signed most of the unlawful decisions made by his boss, Sreten Radonjić. Someone who has agreed to be an accomplice in the contempt of verdicts of the Administrative Court that overturned the unlawful decisions of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption should not be able to run for such an important position”, Milovac said.
Challenges and criticism regarding the independence of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC), its prioritization, selective approach, controversial interpretation and application of legislation, as well as the quality of its decisions, is the latest criticism of the European Commission related to the Agency’s work. The criticism was repeated this autumn in an EC document on Montenegro’s compliance with Chapters 23 and 24 (non paper).
Savo Milašinović promised in the Proposal of the Agency’s work programme and key priorities that this would change if he was elected director.
“In the implementation of the activities, the Agency should pay special attention to meeting the recommendations of the EC Progress Report, as well as to meeting the obligations arising from international agreements and treaties related to the Agency”, Milašinović promised, among other things, in the plan which he will present tomorrow to the members of the Council of the Agency.
Until the end of last year, he was Assistant Director of the Agency, and Acting Director after the resignation of Sreten Radonjić. Two days ago, the Council noted that only Milašinović met the requirements prescribed by the vacancy for director of the Agency.
What does the plan say and how much attention has been paid to the EC’s recommendations so far
“Up until now, we have paid due attention to the EC’s recommendations and made regular reports to them. We will now proactively act, take actions in advance, all based on our previous experience”, Milašinović said yesterday.
He said this when asked by “Vijesti” whether his promise from the programme submitted to the Council meant that the Agency had not paid enough attention to the EC’s recommendations so far.
“Vijesti” had more questions about the programme he submitted to the Council that is supposed to recommend him as director, but Milašinović said he was “driving and unable to talk.”
According to the document obtained by “Vijesti”, Milašinović does not plan any special changes in the Agency.
The plan is to make two sections from the Division for prevention of corruption, integrity, lobbying and implementation of international standards – the Section for integrity, lobbying and monitoring of legislation and Section for monitoring of legislation and opinions on anti-corruption regulations.
Milašinović also proposes the systematization of two new positions – the Agency’s secretary and a spokesperson.
The secretary, according to Milašinović in the programme, “would be the chief officer in charge of operational and technical affairs and would substitute the director in his absence.”
This description of the secretary job corresponds to the works performed by Milašinović while he was Sreten Radonjić’s assistant. During that time, he signed several Agency decisions, which were brought before Montenegrin courts.
Milovac: He was an accomplice in contempt of court decisions
Director of the Investigative Centre of the Network for Affirmation of NGO Sector (MANS) Dejan Milovac says that the Work Programme proposed by Milašinović does not in any word move away from the practice established by his former boss Radonjić.
“It also does not provide citizens with information on how the Agency’s work will be improved. One sentence states that the Agency will tend to align its work with the EC’s recommendations, but without any explanation as to how it plans to do so. This is especially important in the election year bearing in mind the role that APC played in hiding election corruption”, Milovac said.
According to him, it is also unknown what recommended Milašinović as the new director of APC.
“What is certain is that his election will ensure the continuation of the previous disastrous results of that institution in the fight against corruption. I do not see that a different scenario is possible given that Milašinović signed most of the unlawful decisions made by his boss, Sreten Radonjić. Someone who has agreed to be an accomplice in the contempt of verdicts of the Administrative Court that overturned the unlawful decisions of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption should not be able to run for such an important position”, Milovac said.
The election of Milašinović, Milovac says, would also be bad news for Montenegro’s negotiating position in Chapters 23 and 24, because after a very serious criticism of the EC, it would send a message to Brussels that APC would continue its previous work and that the institution would not contribute to anti-corruption reforms.
“The position of the APC director requires credibility and integrity, and Milašinović has so far shown that he is not capable of resisting even Sreten Radonjić, let alone some senior public official whose assets he needs to examine. Thanks to Milašinović and his involvement in what the former APC director did, dozens of senior state officials continue to enjoy the property they acquired in a suspicious way…”, Milovac concludes.
All of Milašinović’s decisions
Milašinović signed a number of decisions on dismissing critically minded representatives of the civil sector and academic elite from positions in councils of state institutions.
He thus signed the decisions on the basis of which the Parliament dismissed Vanja Ćalović Marković from the APC Council, and Goran Đurović and Nikola Vukčević from RTCG Council.
These decisions were later overturned before the courts.
The candidate for director of the Agency, however, had a justification for the Agency’s refusal to check the assets of senior government officials – it was acquired before January 2016, i.e. before the Agency began its work.
These decisions were also overturned before the Administrative Court.
Source: ID Vijesti
