The Prime Minister Djukanović’s interview in which he spoke of the campaign staged by daily Informer against Vanja Ćalović has once again actualized the problem of understanding human rights to privacy and freedom of expression.

The Prime Minister’s insisting on proving authenticity of the pornographic content, unjustifiable by any legitimate public interest, is contrary to the obligation of Montenegro to protect the right to privacy under the European Convention on Human Rights. Invitation to an open discussion on the most intimate aspects of privacy of public figures, with no significance for holding a public function, is contrary to the right to privacy and is not protected by freedom of expression.

The problem is that such statements could encourage further set-up of lowest levelsmear campaigns to all those critical of the authorities. HRA urges returning all political and other public debates within the framework of elementary decency and humanityand protection of binding human rights standards.

A particular problem is that such statements of the Prime Minister objectively mayinappropriately influence the court, which is currently deciding a dispute between Ćalovic and Vladimir Beba Popović, whom she publicly accused of having participated in montaging and uploading the controversial video on the internet.

In the light of European standards of the freedom of expression and right to privacy, HRA reminds on the limit of expression below which one should not go in a democratic society – although in certain special circumstances the public’s right to be informed can even extend to aspects of the private life of public figures, particularly when politicians are concerned, this will not be the case where the published photos and accompanying commentaries relate exclusively to details of the person’s private life and have the sole aim of satisfying public curiosity in that respect (see e.g. the European Court of Human rights judgment in the case Mosley v. UK, para. 114).

HRA team

* * *

Translation of transcript of statement of Milo Djukanović, Prime Minister of Montenegro in TV show ”U raljama života”, broadcasted on Atlas television, 11 May (rerun 12 May) 2015, recording available here:

“M.Đ: I do not believe that Vanja Ćalović has experienced media criticism for her affiliation to MANS, but for a behaviour that is completely in conflict with public morals, a behaviour for which an absolute majority of the Montenegrin public knows that Vanja Ćalović is the actor of what is in complete conflict with public morals in general. Of course, there are people in the public, people in the media who want to close their eyes before this, because they can then use it as thesis about the existence of media that should be shut down and the existence of minions hired by the government. No, this is not what all this is about, this is about speaking of what we know in a more open manner, not of what I know or any of the secret services know, but of what you know and what your colleagues in your media outlet know, but of which we sometimes pretend not to know for our own selfish interest. So, if you think that some things should not be said because they concern this or that significant public figure, I fully disagree with you. I do not think that we should promote as a model something that is rather an example of illness and of which we should talk in a fair manner and I think that the institutions should be assisting us with that regard. The joint Parliamentary Committee urged the state prosecutor on two occasions to explain what all this was about. There is only one move that should be made by the public prosecutor – to request a forensic centre outside Montenegro to say who this person is…

Presenter: Do you believe that the recording should have been published?

M.Đ: Of course not, I believe this is a matter of professional and ethical standards… I myself have often been a victim of such publications in Montenegrin media… But once such things have been published, one knows how to react… I expect the actor of this event to say –I urge the public prosecutor to undertake actions that will show whether this is a monstrous construction or not.”