The fact that after three confirmations of the identity of the internationally wanted fugitive Krst Vujić (47), only at the Bern airport determined that it was not him, was assessed by the interlocutors of "Vijesti" as a gross oversight that causes great damage to Switzerland and its security services.
Montenegrin Interpol officers traveled to Bern on August 29 to pick up a high-ranking member of the Skaljar clan. However, upon arrival, they visually determined that the arrested man was not Vujić, but a Slovenian citizen, and refused to take him into custody.
They immediately notified Interpol and Europol, requesting an international investigation.
The Swiss Federal Police Office (Fedpol) yesterday did not want to comment on the allegations of their Montenegrin colleagues.
"Unfortunately, I can only repeat - within the framework of legal possibilities and procedures, for reasons of privacy protection and official secrecy, we are unable to provide information on individual cases," a Fedpol spokesperson told Vijesti. Miriam Knecht.
"Vijesti" was officially confirmed by the Police Directorate that their officers at the Bern airport refused to take the arrested man, because the operatives on site visually determined that he was not a high-ranking member of the Skalja clan.
They then requested urgent checks and alerted their superiors, who demanded that an international investigation be opened.
On August 14th of this year, the Montenegrin police officially announced that Vujić had been arrested the day before in Switzerland on an international warrant issued by the Interpol NCB Podgorica... On Friday, August 29th, however, they refused to take the arrested person into custody in Bern, after determining that he was not the Vujić they had come for.
"A cardinal omission"
criminologist Velimir Rakočević He assessed that Wednesday was a gross lapse, which causes great damage to both Switzerland and its security services.
He added that such lapses rarely happen, and that the last one he can remember was more than 15 years ago.
"All of this reminds me of a very gross failure by the competent authorities, even though they come from a very well-organized country. Unfortunately, the failure is cardinal because in this case the legal, factual and physical identity of the person was not established, although today identification methods are so advanced that, in principle, one method is sufficient to establish the identity without any doubt," he said.
He pointed out that it is very rare for the police to fail to establish an identity:
"Because the assumption is that if the police establish an identity using modern methods, it is an indisputable fact. However, this case sounds almost unbelievable and clearly shows how a superficial or irresponsible approach can call into question both individual cases and the relations between security agencies between countries. This is an example of very bad practice, which we believed could not happen, at least in European countries," he said.
Rakočević said that he did not want to prejudge, but that everything that happened "indicates not only dishonorable, but also illegal actions."
"Although I don't want to believe it. This also indicates serious shortcomings, primarily indolence and disregard for professional standards in identifying people. There could have been changes over time or even a change of identity, because they change their identity every now and then, which the authorities of this country will have to explain to European police organizations," he said.
The criminologist, speaking about practice, said that such cases are extremely rare:
"I can't even remember when something like this happened, I think the last case was 15 years ago, but the mistake was immediately noticed. The methods used today are so precise that it is practically impossible for a mistake to occur, even with identical twins. To conclude, I believe that this is a cardinal mistake, and I don't want to believe that it is corruption or something illegal or unlawful."
Who made a mistake?
On August 14, Montenegrin police officially announced that Vujić had been arrested in Switzerland the day before on an international warrant issued by Interpol's NCB Podgorica, stating that this arrest stands out from the location and arrest of 12 high-ranking members of regional organized crime groups.
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“Because of his key role within the organized crime group to which he belongs.”
However, it was clear on Friday evening that something was not going according to plan. At the time scheduled for Vujić's hearing, neither the investigating judge nor the police escort entered the High Court building.
"Vijesti" was unofficially told that night that the extradition had been postponed, and the hearing was scheduled for 22 p.m.
"This also indicates serious shortcomings, primarily indolence and disregard for professional standards in identifying people. There could have been changes over time or even a change of identity, because they change their identity every now and then, which the authorities of this country will have to explain to European police organizations," the newspaper's source said.
Two days ago, the Podgorica High Court officially confirmed to "Vijesti" that Interpol officials had informed them "that the extradition of the named person has been cancelled, and that he will not be taken over and brought to Montenegro."
The Police Directorate explained that day that on August 13, they were officially informed by their Swiss colleagues that Vujić had been arrested, that the validity of the international arrest warrant was confirmed on the same day, and that all identification data and fingerprint material were submitted. The Interpol NCB in Bern confirmed the identification and hit on the internationally wanted person on three occasions.
They also stated that on August 19, the Swiss Ministry of Justice approved the extradition in a summary procedure, and that the action was scheduled for August 29. It was only during the handover in Bern that Montenegrin police officers refused to take the arrested person and determined that he was a Slovenian.
The Montenegrin police emphasized that only the timely recognition and reaction of their officers prevented the capture of the wrongly identified person.
Who is Vujic?
According to the allegations of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), Vujić and the alleged leader of the Škalja clan, Igor Vukotić, are the organizers of the criminal group responsible for the murder of Šćepan Roganović from Novalja.
The brother of highly-placed Kavčan resident Duško Roganović was killed on the stairs of the Kanli Tower on February 13, 2020, at around nine in the morning.
The SDT has identified Milij Bajramović, who according to the indictment is the direct perpetrator of the murder, as well as Igor Glavaš, Dino Ibrahimović, Miloš Komar, Ilija Milanović and Miloš Đuričković, who was given the status of a cooperating witness, as members of the clan responsible for that liquidation.
A second indictment filed for the same crime includes Vukotić, Marko Radović, Slavko Radulović and Miloš Gvozdenović.
Both indictments have been merged into one court proceeding, in which Vukotić, Bajramović and Vujić are being tried in absentia because they are on the run.
During the trial, all defendants denied guilt.
In addition to organizing the murder of Roganović, Vujić is also on trial for charges that he, along with Zoran Mrvaljević, Slobodan Vic, Jovan Žmukić and Jovo Riznić, planned the liquidation of Nemanja Zurovac, a resident of Novalja, an alleged member of the Kavač clan.
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