Ivanović: Detainees are on strike because of prolonged detention, not for other purposes

Lawyer Nikola Ivanović told Portal ETV that detainees at the Pre-Trial Detention Centre are on strike because of the excessive length of their detention, and not for other purposes, as has been insinuated from certain addresses.

- Courts are not accepting bail, there is no house arrest, no electronic monitoring bracelets - there are no alternative measures - lawyer Ivanović pointed out.

He added that lawyers are supporting their clients because they are also aware of the poor conditions in which detainees are being held.

As he explained, the promises made to them last year during the strike have not been fulfilled; instead, the situation has deteriorated in the meantime.

- We are the country in Europe with the highest number of detainees in relation to our population, which in itself says enough about the fact that there is a certain problem - Ivanović said.

On Friday, the Administration for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions announced that 138 detainees were on strike.

A group of detainees at the Pre-Trial Detention Centre in Spuž began a hunger strike on September 1 and announced that they would not attend court hearings because, they claim, they have been denied basic human rights, the right to a fair and impartial trial, and equality of arms.

The detainees are demanding that alternative measures begin to be applied and that the practice of effectively turning pre-trial detention into a prison sentence be discontinued, which, they say, deprives them of their right to the presumption of innocence.

They are also demanding an answer as to whether the French authorities officially notified Montenegro about the implementation of covert surveillance measures against its citizens, as required by Article 100-8 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure and Article 31 of the EU Directive on the European Investigation Order in criminal matters.