The recent arrest of the alleged leaders of the Kavac criminal clan, the merits of the Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazović in that action and the threats he subsequently received were also included in the Report on Montenegro, which was adopted by the European Parliament (EP) last week and received the form of a Resolution.
In the Resolution of the rapporteur for Montenegro in the EP, Tonin Picula, which was adopted with 518 votes in favor, 97 against and 77 abstentions, the recent success of the Deputy Prime Minister was praised:
"In the arrest of prominent figures involved in organized crime; strongly condemns the death threats directed at him; calls for the support and protection of all officials who fight against corruption and organized crime, even at the risk of their own lives, and expresses solidarity with them".
The resolution also states that they welcome the fact that some progress has been made in the fight against organized crime, especially in terms of stronger capacities and professionalism of the police.
European parliamentarians encourage Montenegro to continue its efforts in this area, especially through the fight against international criminal networks, with a special focus on the fight against money laundering, trafficking in people, drugs and weapons, illegal gambling and cigarette smuggling, but also to monitor their possible links with politicians and representatives of state institutions.
Abazović has repeated several times since April 22 that the action of arresting the Kavaka criminal clan is a historic success in the fight against organized crime.
The coordinator of the security services, on the occasion of Independence Day, presented thanks to the Department for the fight against crime (SBPK), which is headed by Dejan Knežević, precisely because of this action.
And on that day, he repeated that the action of "arresting the leaders is a historic success" achieved by the Police Directorate and the SBPK.
The alleged leader of the Kavac criminal clan Slobodan Kašćelan (58) and five other members of that clan were arrested on April 20 on suspicion of kidnapping and killing a thirty-year-old man from Podgorica, allegedly close to the Skaljar criminal clan, at the end of July last year.
Three days later, the investigating judge of the Podgorica High Court, Miroslav Bašović, judged that there was not enough evidence to send Kašćelan, his bodyguard Vladimir Vučković, Kotorana Zoran Kažić, Miloš Radonjić and Krsto Maroš, nor Darko Prelević from Podgorica, who lives in Pljevlje, into custody.
A few hours after Bašović's, the decision was reversed by the panel of the High Court, but the police managed to arrest only Kašćelan, Vučković and Kažić.
Radonjić, Maroš and Prelević are on the run, as well as Radoje Zvicer, Radoje Živković aka Zuti, Milan Vujotić, Srđo Jurišević, Dragan Knežević, Milan Knežević, Aleksandar Dragićević and Zdravko Perunović.
The police and the Special State Prosecutor's Office of Kašćelan and the team suspect that they killed Podgorica in early August 2020, and planned more liquidations.
"According to the collected evidence, it was determined beyond reasonable doubt that this criminal organization created a criminal plan to take the lives of several people on the territory of Montenegro, and that in order to implement the criminal plan, in late July and early August 2020, they followed the movement of the injured SN in for a long period of time, and that they intercepted him, and then deprived him of his life. According to the evidence collected so far, the traces of the committed crime were destroyed by the members of the criminal organization by burning, that is, with the use of chemical agents", they said at the end of April at the SDT and UP conference.
Limit the number of plea agreements
In the EP Report for Montenegro, it was underlined that other systemic deficiencies in the criminal justice system remain, saying that they should be solved as a matter of priority.
European parliamentarians urged the authorities to introduce concrete measures to limit the use of plea agreements to exceptional cases:
"In order to increase the transparency and credibility of the judicial response to organized crime," the document reads.
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