Prosecutors don't care about hate cartoons? Attempting to provoke conflict in Pljevlja after the 2020 elections is not among the State Prosecutor's Office's priorities

Even after almost two years since the publication of transcripts from the Sky app, which indicate the role of the then police officers in organizing graffiti with the aim of inciting interethnic hatred in Pljevlja, the Higher State Prosecutor's Office (VDT) in Bijelo Polje has still not revealed who is responsible for these actions.

The institution says that it will take procedural actions "in the coming period", but without a clear answer as to whether it will question the police officers, now the accused. Petar Lazović i Dragan Radonjić.

The graffiti with Serbian symbols in multiethnic Pljevlja followed the August 2020 elections, when the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) lost power after three decades.

When asked by "Vijesti" whether the police officers at the time would be questioned due to new findings, based on communications from the encrypted Sky ECC application, the prosecutor's office did not give a clear answer.

"In the coming period, the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje will undertake all actions, together with the Police Directorate as the authority responsible for detecting criminal offenses for which prosecution is undertaken ex officio, as well as request data from other institutions and undertake other procedural actions within its jurisdiction in order to detect criminal offenses and perpetrators of criminal offenses for whose prosecution the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje is actually and territorially competent, and therefore also in relation to the events that are the subject of your interest," the response from the deputy head of the prosecutor's office reads. Vladan Đalović.

They recalled that the previous proceedings against two people from Pljevlja, accused of inciting national, racial and religious intolerance, ended with a final acquittal by the Higher Court in Bijelo Polje.

"The Higher State Prosecutor's Office has opened a case against two persons for the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred under Article 370 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, in connection with graffiti in Pljevlja, after August 2020, and in that proceeding, an indictment was filed against two persons, who were finally acquitted by a final verdict of the Higher Court in Bijelo Polje," Đalović stated.

As "Vijesti" previously reported, communication from the Sky application indicates that Petar Lazović, then an employee of the Police Directorate, organized the desecration of Pljevlja with symbols with the aim of inciting interethnic intolerance.

After the "drawers" were detained, Lazović asked the then head of the Special Police Department (SPO), Dragan Radonjić, to treat them leniently.

The correspondence shows that Radonjić agreed to this, and then Lazović informed the leader of the Kavača criminal clan, Radoje Zvicer, about it.

Pljevlja in September 2020.

The night after the opposition's election victory was declared, the town near Ljubišnja was covered in graffiti and symbols aimed at inciting interethnic hatred. The doors of the Islamic Community's premises were broken, and alarming messages were left inside.

The attacks provoked reactions from the domestic and international public.

Although the authorities promised a quick solution to the incident, the perpetrators have not been prosecuted to this day.

During encrypted phone communication with the accused drug lord Darko Sarić, the now detained secret agent writes: "Tell Pljevlja to draw four "Es".

In the communications in Vijesti's possession, there is no evidence that Šarić responded to him.

However, the next morning, the premises of the Islamic Community in Pljevlje woke up with broken windows on the front door.

Arrest, then new charges

Petar Lazović is a former employee of the National Security Agency (ANB).

He was arrested on July 18, 2022, on the orders of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), on suspicion of committing several serious crimes: creating a criminal organization, drug and weapons smuggling, unauthorized possession of narcotics, smuggling, unauthorized possession of weapons and explosives, as well as abuse of official position.

The proceedings were initiated on the basis of materials provided to the SDT by Europol and French judicial authorities, first in July and December 2021, and then again in May 2022.

According to the prosecution, he subordinated the civil service to the interests of the Kavača criminal clan, namely its leader Zvicer.

The defense has repeatedly offered bail, including a sum of around 9,3 million euros, but the proposals have been rejected on the grounds that there is a risk of flight and recidivism.

In May 2025, the Higher Court in Podgorica confirmed the indictment against Lazović on suspicion that, as an ANB officer, he participated in the kidnapping and torture of Goran Brajović...