CCE supports the decision of the Basic State Prosecution Office in Podgorica to submit an indictment against Prof. Dr. Bojana Lakićević Djuranović, considering indisputable evidence following the criminal charge that the CCE submitted on 2December 2019 to the Basic State Prosecution Office.
The fact that despite the clear existence of criminal offense, this case has been in the Prosecution’s drawer for too long, is not encouraging, but we hope that its further processing will be efficient.
CCE reminds the public that here, unlike the first case, which refers to plagiarism of graduate thesis for specialist studies of Djordije Drincic, we have a qualified form of a criminal offense for which a higher sentence is envisaged, according to the latest amendments to the Criminal Code in this segment initiated by the CCE, and because this plagiarism is accomplished appointment to a higher academic title.
Another indictment related to the same criminal offense against the same person confirms that it is not an isolated case and inadvertency in the academic and pedagogic work of Lakicevic, but that it is her modus operandi or method she has in her work.
This should be an impulse to the Basic Court in Podgorica to terminate the procedure of the first case as soon as possible, which lasts almost two years since the first hearings in that case and half a year since the closing arguments of defence should have been said. This process takes an inexplicably long time, which is why the CCE has repeatedly appealed to the President of the Basic Court to monitor the efficiency of the acting judge.
Finally, this must be a reminder to the new management of the University of Montenegro (UoM) that Bojana Lakićević Đuranović is still employed in this institution, although she is under suspension. UoM has not yet undertaken appropriate actions to analyse in detail her scientific work so far, nor has it shown sufficient willingness to deal with this or other similar cases of plagiarisms among its academic staff.
Snezana Kaluđerović, Senior Legal Advisor