ASK: MANS misleads the public with half-information, questioning the legality and legitimacy of the election process

The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption responded with a statement to the claims of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) that the Democratic Front (DF) hid all the costs of political marketing during the campaign for the local elections in October on the Pink M and Adria TV televisions, stressing that this organization, as usual , misleads the public with incorrect or half-information, calling into question the legality and legitimacy of the entire election process.
By talking about non-transparency and alleged abuses, the representatives of this non-governmental organization are trying to create public opinion about the election campaign in favor of certain interest groups they favor. Either they are legally ignorant and don't know, or they are malicious and announce that TV Pink, in accordance with current regulations, is a media registered in Montenegro, which is not true. Instead of sitting in the committees of the Parliament of Montenegro and trying to change the anti-corruption laws in their favor and to the detriment of the citizens, together with certain parts of the governing structures, including the Democratic Front, it would be more useful for them to direct their energy to the reform of the electoral legislation in the public interest. After all, the protection of public interest should also be the purpose of their existence - it was stated in the announcement of ASK.
From that institution, they say that the distortion of facts and such behavior of MANS is not surprising if one takes into account the corruption risks that the Agency has established in the actions of the executive director of MANS, Vanja Čalović, and persons related to her.
In this light, we once again repeat and quote the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights from July 11, 2017, which rejected the petition of Vanje Ćalović against Montenegro, and which clearly states that "incomplete and therefore wrong information can lead to the abuse of the right to petition, especially if the information concerns the very essence of the case, and there is no sufficient explanation for the non-disclosure of that information." Apparently, the indisputable position of the European institution for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms is that the manipulation of facts is an abuse of rights. Manipulation of facts is the confirmed way of working of Mansa, as we have seen in the last two and a half years through publications about the Agency, which are full of half-truths, inaccurate and unfounded data - according to ASK.
They also add that the Agency, in accordance with its legal powers, carried out supervision and requested and received from DF a statement on advertising in the campaign for the local elections held on October 23, 2022, which includes advertising on TV Pink and Adria TV.
The results of the monitoring will be published, as prescribed by law, within 60 days from the announcement of the election results. Nothing is hidden from the Agency, nor does the Agency hide anything, but after obtaining all relevant information and data, it will issue a Report on the conducted monitoring during the election campaign and the control of the financing of the election campaign of political entities. This will make a visible contribution to the transparency and integrity of the electoral process, and resist the attempt to deal with half-information and misinformation that can influence the political attitude of citizens and their freely expressed will in elections, and cause damage to any political entity, the Agency itself and the electoral process as a whole. - concludes the Agency's statement.
M. J.