17 NGOs express deep concern over the circumstances in which the Parliament of Montenegro is preparing to vote on the election of members of the Radio Television of Montenegro Council, and call on the Speaker of the Parliament and members of parliament not to decide on candidates for membership of that Council until the competent authorities have completed the verification of all allegations of irregularities in the candidacy procedure.

We recall that today four civil society organisations — Media Centre, the Centre for Civic Education (CGO), the Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) and the Institute for Media of Montenegro (IMCG) — filed criminal complaints with the Basic State Prosecution in Podgorica. The complaints concern reasonable suspicion that the current President of the RTCG Council and candidate for a new term, Veselin Drljević, incited the falsification of documentation supporting his candidacy, and that responsible persons in the Administrative Committee of the Parliament, through failure to perform their official duties, allowed irregular and unlawful documentation to pass as complete.

Of particular concern is the fact that the list of authorised nominators included a non-governmental organisation which, according to publicly available data, has not existed since 2021, and that the financial documentation of certain NGO nominators does not meet the legally prescribed conditions regarding the minimum annual budget.

We therefore call on the Parliament of Montenegro to:

• not include on the agenda the item concerning the election of members of the RTCG Council;
• await the outcome of the Basic State Prosecution’s investigation, and in the meantime have members of parliament themselves take an interest and, in the general interest, verify the allegations from the criminal complaint by simply reviewing the documentation in the Parliament’s possession;
• upon completion of that verification, annul the public call and issue a new one.

The public media service must be protected from any doubt as to the legitimacy of its governing bodies. The credibility of RTCG and public trust in media regulation must not be sacrificed due to anyone’s deliberate or inadvertent omissions.

We also recall that public calls for the appointment of members of the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services were annulled on two occasions, and without convincing legal reasoning, while the public call for the appointment of members of the RTCG Council was deliberately delayed by several months.

If the Parliament was prepared to delay and annul procedures when it suited the political majority, there is no justification for failing to do so now, when it is required by the protection of the rule of law and the credibility of RTCG.

Goran Đurović, Media Centre
Olivera Nikolić, Institute for Media of Montenegro (IMCG)
Daliborka Uljarević, Centre for Civic Education (CGO)
Milka Tadić Mijović, Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIN-CG)
Tea Gorjanc Prelević, Human Rights Action (HRA)
Darko Ivanović, NGO 35mm
Zdravko Janjušević, Bijelo Polje Democratic Centre
Nataša Nelević, NOVA – Centre for Feminist Culture
Zorana Marković, Centre for Development of Non-Governmental Organisations (CRNVO)
Nevenka Vuksanović, Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM)
Budislavka Mira Saveljić, Women’s Safe House
Muamera Muslić, NGO Đakomo Adriatic
Boris Nedović, NGO Centre of the North
Marina Vujačić, Association of Youth with Disabilities of Montenegro (UMHCG)
Radomir Kračković, Media Trade Union of Montenegro
Aida Perović, NGO Prima
Slavica Striković, Women’s Action
Nataša Međedović, SOS Helpline for Women and Children Victims of Violence Nikšić