The public and secret police continued to serve organized crime, and in recent years we have received definitive confirmation of the extent to which organized crime has had a strong influence on state institutions, especially those that were supposed to be fighting this problem.
This was stated by the director of the MANS Research Center in a statement to Vijesti. Dejan Milovac, answering questions about the state of the Montenegrin institutions, the system and the security of citizens 19 years after the referendum on the independence of Montenegro.
Many key operatives and leaders in the security services from the time after the restoration of Montenegrin independence on May 21, 2006, are today in custody or are the subject of numerous investigations by the Special State Prosecutor's Office, due to accusations that they collaborated with the mafia for years.
A year after the referendum, he was elected as the first director of the independent Police Directorate. Veselin Veljović, who is now under indictment by the SDT for being an associate of a criminal organization in cigarette smuggling. And his successor as police chief Slavko Stojanovic He was recently sentenced to three years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to requesting the passage of a truck loaded with cigarette packets.
For decades, two key secret service operatives Zoran Lazovic i Dusko Golubovic are in the custody of Spuž.
Lazović is accused of abusing his official position during 2020, while he was Veljović's assistant in the police, and of recruiting the then chief special prosecutor as a member. Milivoj Katnić and special prosecutor Saša Čađenović, son and agent Petar Lazović to cooperate with the criminal organization of the fugitive Radoja Zvicer for the purpose of gaining illegal gain or power.
Retired secret agent Duško Golubović is suspected of "laundering money" earned from cigarette smuggling by purchasing real estate...
Milovac je for Vijesti assessed that the acquisition of independence in the referendum in May 2006 did not strengthen the institutions that were supposed to ensure the rule of law and protect the interests of Montenegro and its citizens.
That the services need to be reformed and also to free compromised personnel has been pointed out for years in numerous international documents and reports.
Even in the first years after independence, during the major international operation "Balkan Warrior", at the end of 2009, the State Department's Human Rights Report indicated that there was corruption in the security services in Montenegro and that the Montenegrin ANB wiretapped opposition members, journalists, and dissenters of the regime without authorization...
Confirmation of such assessments arrived at the beginning of 2010, when it was learned that Montenegro had been a haven for Pljevljak for months. Darko Sarić, after the major operation "Balkan Warrior", and due to accusations that he organized the smuggling of 2,4 tons of cocaine from Latin America to Europe.
Two years later, Rožajac also fled Montenegro before being arrested. Safet Kalić, who was accused of investing the money he earned from drug sales in the purchase of real estate in the north. Kalić's contacts with the now detained ANB agents were documented at his wedding, where guests included Zoran Lazović and Duško Golubović...
"The arrests of senior police and judicial officials based on information from the SKY application have shown the extent to which organized crime has infiltrated these structures and how much every fight against OKG was actually faked and in some cases used to deal with opposing clans. I believe that we are far from the end of the war with OKG in Montenegro, especially when we see the performance of the judiciary, especially in organized crime cases. The lack of final verdicts in cases of high-level corruption and organized crime is something that Montenegro has been criticized for years in European Commission reports, and without that we cannot talk about a sustainable fight against these problems," Milovac believes.
The Director of the MANS Research Center also claims that the socio-political context is significantly different compared to 2006, emphasizing that Montenegro has in the meantime become a member of NATO, but has also assumed many international obligations aimed at strengthening security and the rule of law.
"So in that sense, the starting points for assessing security are quite different than in 2006. Unfortunately, state institutions still suffer from the remnants of a thirty-year regime that continuously weakened them, serving primarily criminal clans and corrupt politicians. In any case, the concept of security today is quite different than in the first years after independence, and security itself is unfortunately still not at the level of developed countries to which we aspire," Milovac says.
A journalist from Trebinje also believes that 2006 and 2025 are not comparable. Natasa Miljenovic Zubac, but he emphasizes that over the span of almost two decades, we have learned that those who were supposed to protect the state from lawlessness have increasingly become incorporated into the network of organized crime.
"The names that are currently in Spuž speak volumes about that," Miljenović Zubac emphasized to "Vijesti".
A journalist who publishes data from the SKY application in BiH and points to the connections of organized crime in that country and with that in Montenegro states that powerful people in security and judicial institutions have "created Mecca and Medina for organized criminal groups and criminals."
"And they served exclusively to criminals to achieve their goals. When I say criminals, I mean both the official ones who decided to engage in that "business", but also those with badges and in armchairs, who institutionally paved the way for crime and criminals. Thanks to criminals in institutions, crime in Montenegro was almost unofficially legalized," says Miljenović Zubac.
Since arrival Vladimir Novović at the head of the Special State Prosecutor's Office, at the end of February 2022, but also after opening cooperation with EUROPOL and numerous services around the world, numerous cases were initiated, and the prosecution's attack included high-ranking members of the Kavač and Škalja clans, as well as police officers, prosecutors, judges, politicians...
"After all the arrests that we have had the opportunity to see in the last few years, and which are predominantly based on data that the state obtained through international cooperation and breaking the encrypted communication of members of organized crime via the SKY application, we can say that the influence of OKG on state institutions is certainly not the same. It has been significantly weakened, but it would be naive to even think that with the change of government it has completely ceased to exist. Part of this is visible through the work of the SDT, which includes both politicians and officials of the new government, but also through the research that MANS recently conducted concerning cigarette smuggling through the Free Zone of the Port of Bar. For the 'successful' operation of organized crime, the support of state institutions is necessary, and I believe that the time ahead and the new investigations that will be conducted by the SDT will show to what extent and thanks to whom organized crime "survived" the change of the DPS in 2020," Milovac believes.
"This story cannot just end like that, because this criminal octopus has stretched its tentacles everywhere. Montenegro, as I have already said in one of my previous answers, has done a lot of work in that direction, but not enough to be able to breathe normally in this country. I will say it again - if we compare it with BiH, then Montenegro has made a huge success," says Miljenović Zubac.
A journalist from Trebinje also noted that a great deal of work has been done between the SDT and SPO (Special Police Department), and believes that the five-year period after the change of regime is insufficient to "cleanse" the institutions.
"It cannot be said that it is at the same level, of course, because those who were appointed to cleanse institutions of crime and protect the state have done a lot of work. Of course, more can always be done, we just have to all be realistic." Milo Djukanovic and his DPS have been building a network for decades, especially in state institutions. We would all like to see all of this cleared up in an instant, but that is not possible, because neither can a cadre be created just like that, nor can everything be documented overnight. I am also very aware of the weight and scope of work of those tasked with doing this. That is why I think we all have to be patient and that everyone in their own domain helps to realize what all honorable and honest citizens of both Montenegro and BiH want," says Miljenović Zubac.
A decade after independence, Montenegro became internationally known for the rise of two clans from Kotor, but also for the long-running war between opposing leaders and members, during which over 50 people were killed in the most brutal manner...
The journalist, who has been the target of numerous threats for publishing links between the police and the mafia, explained that the story of the two clans is actually a regional story.
"They have spread into the institutions and systems not only of Montenegro, but also of BiH and other countries in the region. The struggle between the two clans has led to the Skaljar clan almost being lost. The Kavčani were stronger there, because they were part of the state and deeply infiltrated its structures. This story cannot end just like that, because this criminal octopus has stretched its tentacles everywhere. Montenegro has, as I have already said in one of my previous answers, done a lot of work in that direction, but not enough to allow people to breathe normally in this country. I will say again, if we compare it with BiH, then Montenegro has made a huge success. In BiH, branches of these two clans are still very present and do their job, just in a different way and under different circumstances. They are connected to the institutions of RS, FBiH and BiH. I speak about this publicly, I provide information to certain institutions, I publish parts of the SKY application on my social networks that confirm many things. Because of all this, I have been in prison in BiH for years, my safety is threatened, I have been attacked in various ways. For several months now, I have been "I was deployed to Sarajevo, where international organizations made my stay possible, and I am being protected by international security structures that are on vacation in BiH - some of them are my friends who understand perfectly what is happening. That's how I stayed and remain alive. But, of course, I will not give up," said Miljenović Zubac.
Dejan Milovac states that the tragic events we have witnessed in previous years show that there is enormous room for improvement in the security sector.
"On the other hand, the efficient prosecution of all those who have contributed to such a situation in previous years and decades would send a clear message that there is political will to put this area on a sound footing. When it comes to legal certainty for investments, we still do not give the impression of an investment destination where all the rules of the game are clear, which on the other hand continues to attract those who see Montenegro as a suitable ground for money laundering. The safety of journalists remains questionable, and the failure to prosecute attacks on journalists that have continued even after the change of government does not have an encouraging effect on the media community, nor does it give the impression of significant political will to put an end to it," Milovac concludes.
Milovac: Vetting in the judiciary is necessary
Numerous investigations by the SDT have shown that the police, prosecution and judiciary are not sufficiently resistant to political and criminal pressure.
"I think they are still not sufficient. That is why MANS advocates for vetting in the judiciary, but also in the police and other state services, which are on the front line of defending the state against corruption and organized crime. There is no alternative to this process, and until it happens, we cannot talk about the beginning of reform and liberation from the constraints of politics and organized crime," says the director of the MANS Research Center.
Milovac also says that there is no doubt that the police, judiciary and prosecution are the most vulnerable to corruption.
"Releasing the shackles of organized crime is necessary in order to finally, five years after the dismissal of the DPS, finally begin reforms in the fight against corruption and organized crime. Unfortunately, as I have already said, this dynamic is still not at a level that would yield sustainable results, and apart from the dismissal of the head of the SDT, I do not see any efforts to put the judicial institutions in order. When it comes to the police, we have recently seen significant efforts to cleanse that service of the remnants of those who served organized crime, which is a process that will certainly take time," he says.
ANB without reforms, lustration and opening of files
In the wake of the referendum, during 2005, reforms took place and the national security and intelligence service was separated from the Ministry of the Interior, and the powers of the secret service were regulated by the Law on the National Security Agency.
Two decades later, according to the director of the MANS Research Center, the ANB, whose work has been marked by numerous controversies, as well as accusations that the service was politically instrumentalized for decades, "has never been reformed."
"This service has never been reformed, nor has any of the authorities made any serious effort to make it happen after 2020. The process of opening files and lustration has also been absent, all of which would be a clear sign that the departure from the practices of the old regime has actually begun. Instead, we have received serious data leaks, and almost every executive branch has so far shown that it does not know how to manage this sector and that confidential data is misused more than it is used to protect the state. It remains a complete mystery what the role of the ANB is today in suppressing cigarette smuggling and other prohibited goods through the Port of Bar, especially considering the role this service played during the 90s," Milovac says.
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