The main hearing scheduled for today before the Misdemeanour Court in Podgorica against Igor Rmandić, officer of the Police Administration of the Security Centre in Herceg Novi and president of the Independent Police Union, was postponed to 18 March 2024 due to the justified absence of Judge Radoš Marinković caused by health issues.

Rmandić has been charged with an offence under Article 7, paragraph 1 of the Law on Public Order and Peace because he allegedly behaved insolently and insulted the former Minister of the Interior, Filip Adžić, during a protest that members of the Independent Police Union conducted on 20 September 2023 in front of the building of the Ministry of the Interior.

The NGO Human Rights Action is providing legal assistance to Igor Rmandić in this case through his legal representative, attorney Dalibor Tomović, because we believe that his right to trade union activity has been threatened by the initiation of this misdemeanour proceeding.

We are protesting the fact that to this day, Rmandić (that is, his attorney) has not been provided access to the case files, which fact jeopardised his right to defend himself. We expect the defendant to be provided access to the requested case files in a timely manner, before the next hearing, in accordance with the law and the standard of the human right to a fair trial.