Media Center has stated that the Parliament of Montenegro unlawfully appointed Milan Radović as a member of the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AMU), representing non-governmental organizations working in the field of human rights.

In a statement signed by the NGO’s director, Goran Đurović, Media Center said that the Parliamentary Administrative Committee had previously established the list of candidates without applying the relevant legal provisions. As a result, some of the NGOs that supported Radović did not meet the requirements for participating in the nomination process.

Media Center claims that the Administrative Committee and MPs from the parliamentary majority violated Article 150 of the Law on Audiovisual Media Services, which stipulates that an NGO that nominated an elected member of the Council of the national public broadcaster cannot nominate a candidate for the Agency’s Council while that member’s mandate is ongoing.

“The Administrative Committee and its Chairwoman, Jelena Nedović, ignored the fact that the current member of the RTCG Council, Amar Škrijelj, had been nominated, among others, by the NGOs Civic Alliance, Youth Initiative for Human Rights and Alfa Centre,” the statement reads.

Media Center argues that these organizations were therefore not eligible to participate in Radović’s nomination process, rendering the entire procedure unlawful.

The organization further states that the speed with which the Administrative Committee and the parliamentary majority reviewed the documentation submitted by candidates Milan Radović and Neđeljko Rudović suggests an intention to appoint Radović at all costs and as quickly as possible.

Media Center has requested access to the documentation submitted by the NGOs that nominated the candidates. Once the Secretary of Parliament grants access, the organization will determine whether the other NGOs that supported the newly appointed Council member met the legal requirements. These include having annual budgets of at least €3.000 for human rights activities over the previous three years, as well as properly submitted financial and activity reports.

According to Media Center, the Administrative Committee and the parliamentary majority completed Radović’s appointment process in just a few days, while allegedly obstructing, for 12 months, the appointment of candidates they did not favour: Dragoljub Vuković, representing NGOs working in the media sector, and Niko Martinović, representing the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU).

Media Center claims that the Administrative Committee and Parliament have repeatedly violated media legislation when appointing members of the Council of Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) and the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services.

The statement recalls the recent appointment of Amar Škrijelj to the RTCG Council, despite his allegedly having the support of fewer NGOs that met the legal requirements than the other candidate, Vladan Mićunović.

“After reviewing the candidates’ documentation, we established that Amar Škrijelj had valid support from 14 NGOs, while Vladan Mićunović had the support of 21 NGOs that met the required conditions and should therefore have been appointed to the RTCG Council,” the statement reads.

Media Center claims that the Administrative Committee and the parliamentary majority ignored warnings from NGOs that appointing Škrijelj would constitute a violation of the law.

The organization also recalls that Mićunović served as Director of Television of Montenegro from May 2017 to June 2018, noting that, according to research, TVCG enjoyed greater public trust than TV Vijesti for the first time during that period.

The statement further notes that Radović, who was a member of the RTCG Council at the time, was among those who initiated proceedings to dismiss RTCG Director General Andrijana Kadija and TVCG Director Vladan Mićunović in June 2018.

Media Center also refers to earlier procedures for appointing RTCG Council members, claiming that Olivera Nikolić was excluded from the list of candidates representing media-related NGOs despite meeting the legal requirements. According to the statement, instead of appointing her, the procedure was repeated and a new public call was issued, after which lawyer Nebojša Asanović was elected.

As another example of an alleged legal violation, Media Center cites the appointment of Miroslav Bobo Milanović, who, according to the organization, was until recently an official of Democratic Montenegro in the party’s municipal committee in Herceg Novi. Media Centre points out that the Law on RTCG prohibits the appointment of party officials to the Council until at least three years have passed since they ceased holding their party positions.

The NGO argues that these appointment procedures have undermined the three-year process of drafting media legislation, claiming that party-affiliated individuals are being appointed to important positions instead of candidates who meet the legal requirements.

“The explanation is very simple. If candidates who meet the requirements were legally appointed to the RTCG Council, the unlawfully appointed RTCG Director General would probably soon be dismissed. This would mean that the ruling parties would lose control over RTCG in the pre-election period,” the statement reads.

Media Center claims that the ruling parties have no interest in RTCG professionally scrutinizing the work of institutions and government decisions. It also argues that the parliamentary majority’s unlawful actions concerning the Agency’s Council are intended to influence the selection of the Agency’s director, as well as proceedings related to the ownership and editorial policy of TV Vijesti.

The NGO also believes that gaining control over the Agency could influence how it responds to unlawful media content and propaganda during an election year.

The statement also criticizes opposition parties, which Media Center accuses of paying insufficient attention to protecting institutions in the media sector.

The organization concludes by reaffirming its commitment to professional media institutions, the implementation of European standards and protection against inappropriate political party interference. It also expresses the expectation that the European Union will pay greater attention to the substantive implementation of the rule of law in Montenegro.