In the public response of the Democratic Party of Montenegro to the statement from the Human Rights Action (“THE GOVERNMENT IN MONTENEGRO OPENLY THREATENS CRITICS – threats from the Democratic Party of Montenegro to lawyer Veselin Radulović”), no new arguments were exposed, only a demonstration of the violation of democratic standards, a willingness for personal insults, and especially arrogance from the position of power.

The Democrats are the ruling party that independently controls the ministries of internal affairs and defense. From such heights, they have unleashed fire upon the lawyer who announced criminal charges against their members due to indications of abuse of power and damage to the budget in connection with suspensions and dismissals, which they advertise in the media every day. If what lawyer Radulović’s claims are true, then the Democrats’ failures could cost Montenegro dearly, meaning every citizen, and it would be better to stop them in time.

Let us just remember Vesna Bratić and her party’s “cleansing” of school directors. The bill that citizens have already paid due to her handling of power is well over 400,000 euros, and that’s just until July of this year. Courts have so far definitively annulled at least 38 of Bratić’s unlawful dismissal decisions, and now the state is paying compensation to those “written off” individuals instead of using that money to build kindergartens and hospitals.

Through threats and crude disqualifications, the Democrats are evidently attempting to prevent lawyer Radulović—and all others to whom the threatening message is sent—from prosecuting their mass dismissals and suspensions in the police and military.

The Democrats boast loudly about the process they call “vetting” in the security and defense sector. However, it is unclear whether this vetting is being conducted according to any regulation or based on party impulses from the Democrats. Are there really accusations against all the officials who are their targets, or are the Democrats working on establishing a party police, based on the principle of “as one leaves, another takes over,” as we had to learn from the example of the aforementioned minister Bratić without going further back in history? Why should we trust them to be any better than Bratić or the DPS? Why should citizens trust any government more on word alone? The so-called vetting, which they carry out in their own way, still needs to withstand the scrutiny of the state prosecution and courts in the disputes that Radulović announces. If it all leads to the same damage caused by Bratić, then Radulović must be acknowledged because he warned about it in a timely manner.

The loud trumpeting about “vetting” is conveniently used to divert attention from the harsh truth and responsibility for the mass tragedy in Cetinje, for which the Democratic officials panic-strickenly refuse responsibility.

Discrediting Radulović as a “so-called lawyer” and “suspended police officer due to maneuvers with tires” is a narrative that the Democrats shamefully adopted from the DPS.

First, Radulović is undoubtedly a lawyer, and the Bar Association of Montenegro is not yet a party police, meaning that it allows its members to be politically independent lawyers who have not been criminally convicted and whom the association itself deems trustworthy for practicing law.

Second, during the rule of the DPS, in 2013, the first spin about Radulović’s suspension from the police “over tires” was created. This was a reaction from the authorities when he, signed by name and surname together with MANS, filed criminal charges against then-highest officials for various abuses, ranging from electoral misconduct to organized crime and money laundering, to the unlawful arrest of MANS activists.

Interestingly, the DPS never directly attacked Radulović, as the Democrats have, but rather let their media advisor, Beba Popović, and regime media do that dirty work. What is certain is that Radulović, who fought against abuse of power both then and now, certainly deserves public recognition, unlike the police authorities of the DPS then and the Democrats now, who resort to crude methods against their critics.

In response to the assessments that I am “spinning,” making a “political shield,” etc., I can only say that they are not accurate. My sole desire, that what drives me, is for Montenegro to be what it could be under responsible governance—one good democracy in which people can live without the unnecessary damage caused by an incompetent and vain government.

Tea Gorjanc-Prelević, Executive Director of the NGO Human Rights Action