MANS today called the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office to, as soon as possible, initiate criminal proceedings against the commander of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ) of the Police Administration, Radosav Ljeskovic on reasonable suspicion that he had committed several criminal offenses that are prosecuted ex officio.
In fact, the commander of the SAJ first refused to submit to prosecution a written report on use of coercive measures after the protests held on 24.10.2015. year, although by the law such a report every member of the SAJ suppose to make no later than 24 hours from the time the action was performed. In addition Ljeskovic as an official person of the Police Administration is obliged to promptly act upon any order of the competent prosecutor.
After that, at the hearing that followed, Radosav Ljeskovic scorn the state prosecutor’s office and the entire Montenegrin public claiming that he does not know who the officers of the SAJ are who were with him on the critical night in police “Hammer” because they were wearing masks, although even the lay people know that he, as commander of the SAJ, coordinated with all members of the SAJ and he had to know responsibility and the movement of each of them.
Further, Ljeskovic before the prosecutor was silent about all the important facts that he must be known as the commander of the SAJ, but he acknowledged that members of the unit that he commands brutally beat Miodrag Martinovic but he does not know who they are, and then he signed joint report in which there is no statement on the application of force.
Thus, the commander of the SAJ consciously and openly showed that he does not exercise the official authority, that does not respect the orders of the prosecutor, conceals the perpetrators of serious crimes from among the units that he commands, that allows making of official notes with inaccurate data and that is ready to, in every way, to use his position to make impossible for the prosecution in detection and prosecution of criminal group under his command.
For that reason we expect that the state prosecutor immediately take actions in order to prosecute Radosav Ljeskovic to show that Montenegro is a country that at a minimum advocates a system of rule of law, because only in the largest dictatorships police leaders like in this situation can publicly display such arrogance, humiliate the prosecution and defiantly violate the laws with the message that him and those who were beating citizens under his command, are untouchable.
Otherwise, the tolerance of such behavior of commander of the SAJ sends a dangerous message to the public that anyone can be a victim of masked police officers and that the exercise of serious crimes and brutal violation of fundamental rights is allowed if hidden behind masks and if comes as an order of the police.
Behavior of Radosav Ljeskovic further confirms our claims that beatings and terror against citizens by the SAJ are not individual cases nor incidents of individuals within that unit, but that this is an organized violation of fundamental human rights. Also, open protection and concealment of members of the SAJ who pathologically abused at night of 10.24.2015, once again show that the minister of interior should urgently dissolve this unit, and that the unit and its commander become the subject of serious investigation of the prosecution before abusive behavior of some of its members causes serious consequences for security, life and property of the citizens of Montenegro.
We believe that for the rule of law and the effective functioning of the judiciary one of the most dangerous situation is when those who are responsible for the safety of citizens and the detection and prevention of criminal offenses, prevent the prosecution of offenders and to the public send a message that under the masks crimes can be committed with impunity.
MANS
