Today, MANS called on the Special State Prosecutor, Milivoje Katnić, to disclose the complete documentation he collected during the investigation in the “Envelope” case, and on the basis of which the indictment for Slavoljub Stijepović was formed, because it is of undisputed public interest to determine how it was rejected.
The decision of the High Court to dismiss the part of the indictment in the “Envelope” case related to Slavoljub Stijepović is a new defeat of the Montenegrin judiciary system and another in a series of evidence that it is politicized to the extent that even concrete evidence is not enough to prosecute obvious corruption.
After the video that we all had the opportunity to see, there is little room for doubt that at least Stijepović can avoid being prosecuted when the Special State Prosecutor did not even consider the possibility of prosecuting his colleagues from the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) as potential masterminds of what was quite certainly the handover of money from black funds in the eve of the then elections.
However, by the decision of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SSPO), Stijepović was accused of money laundering, and now we see that SSPO drew up such an indictment that could not be held before the judicial authorities. What is obvious is the fact that we have another procedure from which any responsibility of DPS officials has been removed with surgical precision, which is a practice that SSPO has been using for years.
When it comes to political corruption and financing of DPS election campaigns from the so-called black funds, the public was never informed what happened to the suspicious donations to DPS coming from Konik, nor did SSPO ever open an investigation after the public confession of DPS President Milo Djukanovic that his party received donations that were not reported to the competent authorities.
All of the above indicates the need for the immediate resignation of the Special State Prosecutor, Milivoje Katnić, due to the continuous catastrophic results in the fight against corruption at the highest level, but also due to the suspicion that political calculations are an integral part of his actions.
The case of Slavoljub Stijepović, and the obvious evidence that existed for his indictment, point to the need to reconsider not only the disciplinary, but also the criminal responsibility of the SSPO for acting in this case.
Civil control over the work of SSPO is practically non-existent, while most proceedings that are of undisputed public interest, as a rule, are kept secret by the decision of SSPO.
On the other hand, when politically motivated, Special State Prosecutor sees no issue in disclosing information attached to investigations, even in cases where proceedings have not been officially initiated.
After all, it is obvious that there are more than enough reasons for serious reform of the State Prosecutor’s Office because the current situation cannot ensure sustainable results in the fight against corruption, while remaining of Katnić in the office of the Special State Prosecutor means further compromising the EU integration process.
Dejan Milovac
Director of the Investigative Centre
MANS
