Podgorica, (MINA) – Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandic undermined the independence of a state prosecutor with his statement regarding the arrest of former Minister of Education Vesna Bratic, the Prosecutorial Council assessed.

At its session on February 19, the Prosecutorial Council concluded that a state prosecutor’s complaint regarding the threats to his independence by Mandic was founded.

As the Council assessed, Mandic threatened the independence of the state prosecutor with the statement: “If someone abuses power, and we will see what will happen by the end of this process, the same will happen to them as happened to those who put handcuffs on the hands of others, while in the end they ended with their hand handcuffed”.

“The Parliament Speaker undertook actions that represent pressure, threat and influence, indirectly attempting to affect independent, legal and impartial actions of a state prosecutor, contrary to his professional obligations and the law, and to the independence of the State Prosecutor’s Office”, the opinion signed by the President of Prosecutorial Council and Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Markovic stated.