A fugitive cop Ljubo Milović he once suggested to the former director of the Police Directorate Zoran Brđanin which side to take in the war of drug clans, according to special state prosecutors.
In the indictment against the members of the cocaine cartel, which were predominantly police officers, it is written that the defendant Milović informed the head of the Kavaka criminal group about the alleged conversation with the head of the police at the time. Radoja Zvicer.
According to the documents, during the hearing of Brđanin as a witness, the prosecutors showed photos of the messages that Milović sent to Zvicer in October 2020:
"I was with Brđanin and suggested him which side to take," one of them states.
Brđanin, however, denied this, telling the special prosecutor that he did not know that his colleagues were investigating, following and filming Milović. because of ties to criminal clans.
In that document of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), it is stated that the former head of the police said that he never checked the operational records of that colleague, who "had very good operational knowledge" about the state of crime in Montenegro.
It also says that Brđanin said that he "never suggested to him in the conversations which side he was on, or which side he should take".
The prosecutors also state that they played the recording of the conversation he had with Milović, which the fugitive passed on to Zvicer, to the former head of the Montenegrin police.
After that, the indictment explains, the Brđanin stated that he was surprised, because he did not know that he was being filmed.
He then told the prosecutor that he never had a protected Sky application, but confirmed that it is very likely that Milović sent him photos of the correspondence between the former head of the Special Police Department Dragan Radonjić and the now arrested police officer Petar Lazović.
"... In the sense of keeping him informed about the process that preceded and was related to the process of his appointment at the time", he explained to the prosecutor Jovan Vukotić.
"Look what she's talking about"
It is further added that Milović and Brđanin, in February 2021, commented on the candidates for the top position in the Police Directorate, i.e. Brđanin's opponents, on the Telegram phone application.
"Look at what he's talking about," states one of the messages in that context.
As he writes, the Brđanin claims to the prosecutors that there is a high probability that he is the person who then conducted that communication with Milović.
He also told the prosecutor that it is very possible that he and the same colleague commented on the fact that in the entire process of forming the executive power, no one argues about appointments in the ministries of finance, economy or tourism, but that only appointments in the security sector are discussed.
Brđanin was appointed director of the Montenegrin police in February 2021, during the time of the Government Zdravka Krivokapića. He held that position until the end of March 2023.
The first questions about Milović's connections with Kotor criminals were sent by Vijesti to the Police Directorate before the division of the then single clan into Škaljarski and Kavački.
Transcripts from the protected Sky application published by Libertas on May 3, 2022 exposed the actions of that and police officer Petar Lazović.
That portal also reported the statements of the Europol document that, allegedly, "Ljubo Milović at that time must have had strong private and business ties with the director of the Montenegrin police, Zoran Brđanin, and the director of the criminal department Dejan Knežević".
"Intelligence services also indicate that Petar Lazović and especially Ljubo Milović may be in a close relationship with the current director of the police, Zoran Brđanin, and the current head of the criminal police, Dejan Knežević. There is no evidence that Brđanin and Knežević were involved in any criminal activities. Intelligence data indicate that Radoje Zvicer had a huge influence on the activities of the Montenegrin police, through Petar Lazović and his father Zoran Lazović. Zvicer coordinated the police through Lazović when it came to the arrest of the suspects who participated in the planned murder Slobodan Kašćelan", says the Europol document published by Libertas a year and a half ago.
The Brđanin was examined as a witness a year and a month later, he said that he had known Milović since 2008 as an employee of the Police Administration.
He told the prosecutor that he met Dejan Knežević in 2002 or 2003 and developed a professional relationship with him, and after 2016 and after being appointed to the position of director, he also had a private, that is, friendly...
Knežević was also arrested on the charge of being part of the Kavac clan.
Answering questions about the appointment of Knežević as his assistant, he said that it was "a complex situation".
He claimed that after several informal meetings with the leaders of the then executive power and the managers of the security sector, three candidates stood out: Knežević, Nikola Rogošić i Ivan Jokic.
"And after all the negotiations and his personal impression and attitude, as well as based on his operational experience, he decided on Dejan Knežević... He explained that Milović was among the number of people who agreed with that proposal"...
The dismissed director of the Montenegrin police said that he was aware that Milović and Knežević met, since they had direct professional contact for a long period of time...
INDICTMENT
The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) indicted 21 people for creating a criminal organization, drug smuggling, disclosure of secret information and abuse of official position.
The mayor of Budva is also accused Milo Bozovic, Radoje Zvicer, Ljubo Milović, Dejan Knežević, Mileta Ojdanić, Ivan Stamatović, Nebojša Bugarin, Petar Lazović, Milan Popović, Miloš Mišurović, Marko Novaković, Ivan Nikolić, Goran Stojanović, Božidar Jabučanin, Aleksandar Keković, Vladimir Bajčeta, Tihomir Adžić, Filip Zindović (Kljajević), Darko Knežević, Dražen Milović, Ivan Mijatović...
The prosecution charges the individuals in that group, among other things, with smuggling 4,3 tons of cocaine, with laundering around 7.000.000 euros, but also with causing general danger and illegal possession of weapons...
"One of the bravest and best operatives"...
According to the prosecutor's files, Brđanin also expressed his personal opinion about Milović to the prosecutor - that, while he was working in the Kotor police, "he was one of the most capable operatives and the bravest officers who brought very important operational data."
He listed a number of restaurants and cafes throughout Montenegro where he met Milović after he was appointed chief of the Montenegrin police.
"He stated that with Ljubo Milović, in the period from the end of 2020 to March 2021, he commented on the personnel decisions of the Government of Montenegro and the Police Administration...".
He heard from someone that he was being tapped...
Interpreting Brđanin's statement, the prosecutors write in the indictment that he told them that in 2015, in a conversation with his colleagues, he heard that Milović was under secret surveillance measures:
"But he could not confirm more than the degree of public negotiation. Due to the passage of time, he could not remember who he heard from, but it must have been one of his colleagues who knows both him and Ljubo Milović," the prosecutors state.
He told them, they state, that he did not check the operational records for that colleague, but also that neither the Internal Control of the Police Directorate, the National Security Agency, nor any other body dealing with counterintelligence protection in any way suggested to him that it's about a security person of interest in official form...
"... And after he was appointed director, he heard rumors that Ljubo Milović was a man in some controversial way, but in those conversations he insisted that he was not aware of this and that if so, he should be provided with the appropriate information, i.e. acts, to him or to the competent authorities"...
Bonus video:
