Several days have passed since the news broke that the depot of the High Court in Podgorica was burglarized. At that moment, I believe no one anticipated that the break-in would unfold like a script from a thriller more fitting for certain Latin American countries. And my first association was milder than reality. I connected this event with the previously burglarized doors of the depot at the Law Faculty a couple of years ago when student papers, particularly those related to the proceedings against Bojana Lakićević Đuranović, disappeared.
Memes and montages shared on social media revealed that the humorous spirit prevailed over everything our gloomy (un)daily life produces.
The theories about the motives behind this action were intriguing. Hence, it could be heard that the tunnel was dug to steal Do Kwon’s laptops or that the apartment from which the digging took place belonged to Spajić’s grandmother. Later, speculation arose that the tunnel was created for the escape of detainees or the elimination of one of them. Finally, the theft of weapons, which serve as evidence in legal proceedings, was mentioned. Among the multitude of reasons that have been analyzed and to be ironic, the possibility that the tunnel was drilled due to the need to ventilate the High Court’s depot, which, in addition to the usual smell of staleness, is dominated by the smell of seized narcotic drugs, was neglected.
Soon, exclusive photos were published on a portal, with which the Police Directorate has been generously sharing materials from investigations lately, and in which no one sees a problem, and no one sees a problem with that, nor with defending the downloading of photos owned by the Police Directorate, i.e. an institution that should maintain equal openness toward everyone. Prompted by this extraordinary discovery, our inspector Clouseau, disguised as a technical mandate Prime Minister, went at dawn as an expert in criminal and penal procedures to determine whose responsibility it was, ready to present the conclusions shortly after the visit. Even subsequent media bickering did not clarify why this Clouseau visited the Higher Court depot and the apartment from which the tunnel was dug, while the investigation was still ongoing, thereby violating procedures and obstructing the competent authorities from completing their work and determining who dug the tunnel and why.
It is evident that the visit to the tunnel should have served Cluzo as an opportunity to prove his dedication to fighting mafia, which, for the second time after the case involving his close associate Milošević, had humiliated him. It remains unclear who assessed and based on what that the contamination of evidence in this truly unbelievable case was worth those media headlines and tweets.
The fact that the tunnel was dug in the neighborhood where the most important state institutions are located – the Government, the Parliament, the President Building, the Constitutional Court, the Central Bank, and even the Higher Court – doesn’t reflect the weakness of one of the institutions that was fortunate to “get ventilation.” This is clear demonstration of the weakness of the security system, which allowed such “ventilation” to be installed right under their noses and without their knowledge. While we speculate about the responsibility of the Higher Court President and its employees, about the objective or even direct responsibility of those who were supposed to safeguard this institution, namely the Police Administration and the National Security Agency (NSA), not a word is said. Objectivity, according to the subjective interpretations, sems to be when you are in the lenses of cameras.
Perhaps, now is the moment for the neighbouring institutions to check their basements and look into their storage rooms. Perhaps, right there, behind the discarded and dusty image of Tito or the still fresh picture of Milo, lies one of their “ventilation holes”, ready to “air out” the basements under unpleasant odors and dangerous radon.
Fortunately for us, someone smarter decided that the Montenegrin gold reserves are not kept with us, otherwise, we might be left without the deposited bullion of the gold reserves. Even then, Clouseau, together with his (all)powerful rangers, would visit the crime scene accompanied by PR and photographer, waving the “hand of justice” and with the same cleaning his and his closest associates’ armchairs from any responsibility.
Damir Suljević, Programme associate at the Centre for Civic Education (CCE)