Strategy: “Arrest first, prove later”

“Political actors, especially those in the highest positions, should refrain from statements that could be perceived as attempts to influence prosecutorial decisions.”

This sentence is part of the European Union Delegation’s response to a question from Vijesti journalists, given the day after the eruption of absolutism by Chetnik leader Andrija Mandić and his party colleagues in Parliament. The united group of former Fronts (DF) harshly criticized Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković and demanded his immediate dismissal.

PROSECUTORIAL (IN)ACTION AND...

But not because Marković is doing, rather, because he doesn’t do what he was told he must. And that is - to, at all costs, pursue, indict, and imprison Milo Đukanović, his brother Aco, and their immediate family, as well as to prosecute everyone that the new government targets.

On Friday, the leaders of the former Democratic Front, Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević, along with MPs Jole Vučurović and Dejan Đurović, publicly proved what is long known: that the Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković and the Special State Prosecutor Vladimir Novović were chosen not because of their previous work - since neither of them was a prosecutor - but because of what they were expected to do!

Precisely: to arrest those whom the government points its finger at.

That’s nothing new. Since August 2020, Dritan Abazović and the rest of those in power have been more occupied with investigations and accusations against the former government than with Montenegro’s EU path; they have spent more time figuring out how to employ their own people within the state system than thinking about systemic reforms.

So, the August government did not really hide its true face, the only surprising thing about the reaction of the Europeans is - are they really surprised by the behavior of the top ranks of the so-called “liberators”?

...EUROPEAN SILENCE

Or perhaps the reaction of the EU delegation in Podgorica was, in essence, an unofficial but public recognition of their own mistake - that they supported a government whose key figures, such as the parties of Mandić and Knežević, do not inherit European values?

Indeed, Europe mostly watched in silence as the leaders of the new government here began building a regime that controls everything, one that most closely resembles the regime of their political mentor - Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade.

No, there was no reaction from our so-called Western friends, not even to that old statement by an MP of the new ruling government. Milan Knežević once said that in December 2023 and January 2024, inside the Government building, the current authorities negotiated a parliamentary majority for the election of the prosecutor, together with the current Supreme State Prosecutor, Milorad Marković.

That was a chilling admission of political abuse, a kind of political conspiracy, and also evidence of undue pressure by the government and politics on Montenegro’s judiciary.

No, there was no reaction, our Western partners stayed silent.

A LOOK INTO OUR OWN BACKYARD

But to untangle this Montenegrin political-prosecutorial knot, one shouldn’t look toward Brussels, but rather into our own backyard. And try to answer one key question - why did Vladimir Novović, in Parliament on Friday, turn his back on Milorad Marković?

Yes, exactly: part of the parliamentary majority on a political cross crucified the Supreme State Prosecutor for his inaction in cases - that fall exclusively under the jurisdiction - of the Chief Special Prosecutor, Vladimir Novović?!

The one whom Mandić, Knežević, and the others loudly praised, while demonizing Marković.

And this wasn’t mere ignorance of some of the MPs, it was a clear sign that they approve of Novović’s selective approach, which, through the persecution of certain opposition figures and attacks on critical media, has turned into a true service branch of those in power. Unlike Marković, who dared to appeal the acquittal in the 2016 attempted-terrorism case.

It also turned out that Novović, in his own way, expressed gratitude to the MPs from Mandić’s and Knežević’s parties: he didn’t even appear at the parliamentary session, instead, he sent his deputy, Turković, who, presumably by prior agreement, didn’t utter a single word during the sessions of the Parliament of Montenegro.

That silence from Chief Special Prosecutor Novović was painful, but also very telling: the Chief Special Prosecutor himself showed and proved that he is submissive and obedient to the people at the top of the government. And it shows that Novović is willing to violate the ethical code, which states, I quote, that a prosecutor “must not be an instrument of any social or political group.”

PAINFUL MESSAGES FROM THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

And, knowing all this, it’s no surprise that Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović decided to welcome new, additional praise from those in power and to act precisely according to the instructions of a political group.

Today - just as Dritan Abazović had announced many times before, and even a few days ago - businessmen Vesko Kovačević and Ranko Ubović were detained, suspected of alleged money laundering.

If there is evidence, the arrest is logical. But it’s hard to accept that it is legally logical when the Special State Prosecutor’s Office publicly stated that the prosecutors - who ordered the arrests - are “conducting an urgent investigation to find evidence,” as written in the Special State Prosecutor’s Office official announcement.

So: for an alleged criminal act that may have taken place nearly a decade ago, first come the arrests, and only then the search for evidence?

POLITICALLY ORDERED ARRESTS

It appears that Novović ordered the arrests, and that the Special State Prosecutor’s Office will now try to find the crime for which the businessmen have already been detained. Maxim-based logic “arrest first, prove later” - is legally unsustainable, politically ominous, and socially perverse.

But it’s obvious that Vladimir Novović consciously calculated that he would reap new praise. Not only from Dritan Abazović, but also from Boris Bogdanović, who immediately and triumphantly declared that now, I quote, “Ubović’s parties, his media, his political poltroons and lackeys are whining in vain.”

The story about the whining of political opponents was last heard - back in the days of Stalinist purges - from the mouth of the notorious prosecutor Lavrentiy Beria. Now, a century later, about the political whining of his opponents speaks the head of the Democrats’ parliamentary group, Montenegro’s little Beria.

It sounds monstrous, but this is the new Montenegro, one that some, it seems, have already gotten used to. As for the journalists of Television E and ETV Portal, we will not get used to political persecution, no matter where it comes from.

And those who wish to see our end, both politicians and prosecutors, will have to try much harder to make us silent when we have arguments to speak.

Simply: it won’t happen tonight, nor on any other night.