Laković also points out that it was necessary to check whether the surveillance of Medenica was being carried out according to plan.
Criminal law professor Velimir Rakočević explains that according to the rules of the service, the police were not allowed to reveal the names of the police officers in charge of surveillance, but that if there were any omissions, those responsible should bear the consequences. Rakočević addresses the responsibility to the High Court.
Since the Police Directorate announced more than a month ago that they knew who provided logistical support for Miloš Medenica's escape, we still don't know how far the investigation has come.
Police Director Lazar Šćepanović briefly told RTCG that the case is in the prosecutor's office. The prosecutor's office did not share with us whether they are closer to finding out anything about Medenica's escape.
The logical question arises as to who is responsible for the fact that a person under surveillance managed to escape. The public should have had some information by now, according to Vojslav Laković, a doctor of law and long-time police officer.
"Since after Medenica's escape they came out with information to know who was in the logistics, I appeal to Lazar Šćepanović, I think he is a professional, to present information on behalf of the Police Directorate on whether anyone from the logistics that enabled Medenica's escape has been prosecuted," said Laković.
After Medenica's escape, the NGO Sector Affirmation Network received official notes from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, based on the law on free access to information, on the monitoring of compliance with the ban on Miloš Medenica's apartment. The documentation shows that the police had been monitoring his presence at the address where he was supposed to be staying for months.
MANS Executive Director Dejan Milovac questions the fact that the police refuse to say who was specifically in charge and responsible for this surveillance, especially on January 28th, the day of Medenica's escape.
Criminal law professor and long-time police officer Velimir Rakočević warns that this data should not be disclosed in accordance with the rules of the service.
"The police could not provide any more information because then they would have violated the protection of official secrets. They cannot just provide information to anyone except the court for the purposes of criminal proceedings. Everything else that is confidential information must simply be kept as an official secret," says Rakočević.
And the head of the sector in charge of supervision, Laković emphasizes, is obliged to control whether the plans are being implemented as they should be.
"The Police Directorate, or rather the relevant minister, is doing a kind of vetting on his behalf. However, we need to see whether that vetting has affected all the pores in the service that need to be controlled and cleaned. And here I am specifically talking about the department in charge of supervision," says Laković.
If someone from the police did not do everything properly, they should be held accountable, Rakočević points out, but he believes that the responsibility lies with the judicial branch of government.
"Specifically, at the Higher Court in Podgorica, for several reasons. They do not issue a verdict within three years. They have not requested a report on the implementation of supervision measures. They have not ordered electronic monitoring or bail in addition to house arrest. So, almost nothing. If the delinquent, let me say, in terms of security, is a person at risk, first of all, he should not even be under house arrest," said Rakočević.
As a reminder, Miloš Medenica, son of former Supreme Court President Vesna Medenica, fled at the end of January after his first-instance verdict was pronounced.
The Higher Court in Podgorica convicted Miloš Medenica in the first instance of creating and leading a criminal organization involved in drug trafficking, cigarette smuggling, bribery and illegal possession of weapons. He was sentenced to a single prison sentence of ten years and two months.
His mother, Vesna Medenica, a former president of the Supreme Court of Montenegro, was acquitted of charges of creating a criminal organization and sentenced to ten years in prison for exerting unlawful influence, accepting bribes and influencing judicial decisions. She was arrested in April 2022 after the publication of incriminating transcripts by the European Union's law enforcement agency, Europol.
Namely, Europol, among other things, provided the Montenegrin authorities with intercepted telephone conversations and messages from Miloš Medenica, in which he states that his mother is aware of the illegal activities and that he can expect protection from her.
Vesna Medenica has been defending herself from freedom since November 2022, but was recently arrested.
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