Insight view

10 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE - INSIGHT VIEW
One-shot social assistance in Pljevlja, on the eve of the elections of 2012, was the trigger for
the new criminal charges. The first instance verdict acquitted ten people accused due to lack of
evidence. In February 2015 the High Court in Bijelo Polje reviewed the decision of the Basic
Court in Pljevlja from September 2014, and imposed more severe sanctions for the director of
the Social Welfare Center and officials of that institution. The others had a retrial that ended
with the imposition of six-month probation.
In May 2015, the Basic Court in Podgorica sentenced five people for purchase of ID cards on behalf
of the ruling DPS, prior to the local elections in Podgorica in May 2014. One of the accused was sentenced
to five months in prison and the others were given suspended sentences. Six persons were
acquitted of all charges. The investigation failed to clarify who ordered the purchase of ID cards.
Out of ten criminal charges, which the Socialist People's Party (SNP) filed against those responsible
for abuse of the right to vote during the 2008 presidential elections and local 2013 elections,
the State Prosecutor's Office dismissed half of them, while the fate of the remaining is uncertain.
Regarding the issue of elections and electoral abuses, in the last Progress Report on Montenegro
the European Commission clearly indicates that "the judicial follow-up on the alleged misuse of public
funds for party political purposes remains to be completed and political responsibility ensured.“
The European Parliament, in its last resolution on Montenegro in March this year, "calls on the
government to fully implement the new electoral legislation prior to any new elections and to
further strengthen the State Election Commission, which needs to effectively fulfill its mandate.”
The European Parliament has concluded that there is progress made on the judicial follow-up
of the “Recording" affair, but they insist once again on the need for a due political follow-up.
Cases:
The Committee for the Selection and Appointment of the Municipality of Pljevlja supported the
choice of Nada Borović for the local parliament member from DPS, despite the fact that she was
convicted for abuses during the elections, along with nine DPS activists, to six months suspended
sentence in prison due to abuse in the distribution of one-shot financial assistance.
Montenegrin President Filip Vujanović granted an amnesty to the activist of the Democratic Party
of Socialists (DPS) Petar Koljčević, convicted of forgery of five signatures in the voters' list in the
2008 presidential elections. Koljčević was sentenced to 30 days in jail and payment of 759 euros
in court costs for forging the signatures of 14 people.
Zoran Jelić, one of the main actors of the affair „Snimak“, who is still Member of the Parliament of
Montenegro
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