WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
Choose language:
AUTHOR:M.J.
After the General Director of the Public Service Boris Raonic resigned from that position today, and the RTCG Council immediately appointed him acting. General Director of Radio and Television of Montenegro, responded from the Media Center.
- Just when the Media Center was pointing out to the Prosecutor's Council the illegality of the actions of the acting prosecutor in the Special State Prosecutor's Office in the case formed based on criminal charges in the case of the illegal appointment of RTCG Director General Boris Raonic, Raonic, with self-praise and lamentations, resigned from his post, in order to The council, against whose members the Media Center filed a criminal complaint, appointed him as acting general director of the national public media service - they stated in the announcement.
They remind that the Media Center submitted to the Prosecutor's Council a complaint about the legality of the work of the acting prosecutor in the Special State Prosecutor's Office in the case formed based on the Media Center's criminal charges in the case of the illegal appointment of the General Director of RTCG.
- On June 8, 2023, the media center filed criminal charges against the president and members of the RTCG Council: Veselin Drljević (president), Filip Lazović, Naod Zorić, Predrag Miranović and Amina Murić because, as public officials, they refused to execute a final and enforceable court verdict and facilitated the acquisition of illegal benefits to the illegally elected general director of RTCG Boris Raonić, thereby committing the criminal offense of non-execution of a court verdict from Article 395 and the criminal offense of abuse of official position from Article 416 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro - they pointed out in the statement.
Also, on the same day, they filed criminal charges against RTCG General Director Boris Raonić, head of the RTCG legal department Želimir Mićović and RTCG lawyer Zorica Đukanović, because, as they emphasize, they incited the president and members of the RTCG Council to commit a criminal offense, failure to execute a valid and enforceable court verdict and enabled the acquisition of illegal benefits to the illegally elected General Director of RTCG Boris Raonić, thereby committing the criminal offense of inciting the commission of a criminal offense under Article 24 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
- We learned from the media that the consolidated case was returned to the Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT) with the explanation that after the recently adopted amendments to the Law on Special State Prosecutor's Office, the competence of the Special State Prosecutor's Office in this case ends - said the Media Center.
They add that the Media Center submitted a complaint to the Prosecutor's Council for several reasons.
- The Law on Criminal Procedure, Article 256a, establishes a deadline for processing a report which cannot be longer than three months, or six months if it is a complex case due to the volume, factual or legal issues. The head of the State Prosecutor's Office may, with a written explanation, request approval to extend the deadline for a maximum of one month from the head of the immediately higher State Prosecutor's Office, and the State Prosecutor to whom the case has been assigned to work may, with a written explanation, request approval for an extension of the deadline from the head of the State Prosecutor's Office for a maximum of one month days - they say in the announcement.
More than 12 months have passed since the criminal charges were filed on June 8, 2023, which violated the deadlines prescribed by Article 256a of the Criminal Procedure Act.
- Despite the final court judgments, the SDT did not determine whether there were elements of a criminal offense in the actions of members of the RTCG Council and other persons against whom a criminal complaint was filed. Please note that it was established beyond dispute that the President of the RTCG Council, Veselin Drljević, on June 1, 2023, at the Council session, by including Boris Raonic on the list of candidates for the election of the general director, violated the final court verdict and committed the criminal offense under Article 395 of the Criminal Code of the Code of Montenegro - they emphasize in the announcement.
According to them, they learned from the media that the case was allegedly "by force of law" handed over to the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, after the Law on Amendments to the Law on Special State Prosecutor's Office came into force.
- In connection with this fact, we point out the following: In Article 1 paragraph 3 of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on the Special State Prosecutor's Office, it is prescribed that a high public official is considered to be: ownership" - they said in the Media Center.
They note that RTCG is a public company, i.e. a limited liability company, 100 percent owned by the state, just like local public broadcasters are a limited liability company, whose founder is also the state, i.e. a local self-government unit. From the articles of incorporation of local public broadcasters, it can be clearly seen that they were founded as limited liability companies.
- RTCG and local public broadcasters provide commercial services on the market and operate in accordance with the laws that regulate the work of commercial companies. All general acts treat RTCG as a public company, from the Collective Agreement to Rulebook on the part of earnings based on the achieved results in work in JP RTCG, Rulebook on internal organization and systematization of jobs in JP RTCG, and in the statutes until 2020 it is clearly indicated that RTCG is a public company - they stated in the announcement.
They say that it is not clear on the basis of which regulation the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) interpreted that RTCG is not a company majority-owned by the state.
- Please note that the Law on Media (Official Gazette of Montenegro, No. 54/2024 of 11 June 2024) and the Law on Audiovisual Media Services (Official Gazette of Montenegro, No. 54/2024 of 11 June 2024) do not stipulate that public broadcasters are public institutions or some other organizational form. We expect the Prosecutor's Council to act urgently on the complaint and use legal mechanisms to end the obvious obstruction of the procedure regarding the double illegal appointment of the general director of RTCG and non-compliance with final court rulings - conclude from the Media Center.
