CCE: SSPO’s handling of the case of funding religious schools raises the issue of privileged subjects

The Centre for Civic Education (CCE) stated that the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SSPO) „is not demonstrating the necessary seriousness and responsibility“ in cases of particular public interest, which, as they note, deepens suspicions of selective enforcement and the possible untouchability of certain structures.

On November 12th of 2024, the CCE filed a criminal complaint with the SSPO against unknown persons for approving a total of 4,9 million euros for the financing of secondary religious schools in the period from 2019 to 2023, contrary to the General Law on Education and Upbringing. The complaint is based on a report by the State Auditing Institution (SAI), which issued a negative opinion on the legality of these payments and pointed to elements of abuse of office.

The CCE recalls that government conclusions, contracts, and annexes on the basis of which the payments were made cannot be legally valid if they are not in accordance with the law. As they state, the SAI found that the Ministry failed to provide a methodology for calculating education costs, thereby preventing transparent and lawful allocation of budget funds and creating room for corruption risks.

Despite the allegations in the complaint and the findings of the SAI, Special Prosecutor Miroslav Turković issued a decision dismissing the complaint, without providing reasons for such a decision.

The CCE assesses that the prosecution’s conduct was superficial, also pointing to errors in the decision itself. They note that the decision mentions a criminal complaint by the Montenegrin Helsinki Committee, although that organization publicly stated that it had not filed any complaint. They also add that the decision does not specify which CCE complaint it refers to, even though there were several, which makes the use of legal remedies more difficult.

As an additional example of negligence, the CCE points out that the decision incorrectly states the date of the supplement to the complaint as December 28th of 2025 - a date that had not yet occurred at the time the decision was issued.

- All of this indicates a lack of dedication to a case involving multimillion-euro unlawful disposal of state budget funds. At the same time, in other cases of significantly smaller financial value, the prosecution acts much faster and more decisively, which raises the question of the existence of a privileged status for certain entities before the SSPO - the CCE stated.

Due to such conduct by Prosecutor Turković, the organization filed a complaint with the Prosecutorial Council, requesting that it establish the facts and assess the work of the SSPO in this case.

The CCE concludes that unlawful disposal of budget funds represents a serious social threat and that they expect the prosecution to act consistently, transparently, and non-selectively.

- Only in this way can public trust be strengthened and ensure that the prosecution fulfills its role as a protector of the public interest and the rule of law – they stated.