Sharpen your pens, chaos is in the police: Indictment - Bošković and Mijajlović directed the media to write about "corruption" in the service

The indictment states that he suggested that the media be instructed to ask questions about the attack on the police, because there is "chaos" in that service.

The prosecution claims that the former DPS official simultaneously participated in collecting data and exerting pressure on voters during the 2020 elections.

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Who should vote, who should stay home: Bošković is being taken to the SPO for questioning, Photo: BORIS PEJOVIC
Who should vote, who should stay home: Bošković is being taken to the SPO for questioning, Photo: BORIS PEJOVIC
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The then high-ranking official of the Democratic Party of Socialists Predrag Boskovic he suggested to the businessman Aleksandar Mijajlović to instruct the media to deal in detail with the case of the attack on police officers, emphasizing that the security service is in a chaotic state.

According to the indictment of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), he wrote to the alleged organizer of the criminal group on July 3, 2021 - the day after a clash broke out between several citizens and the police in front of a Podgorica bar, due to an order to turn off the music that was too loud...

A video of the incident was posted on social media at the time, and the Police Directorate announced that six people had been questioned for the attack on their officers...

"Regarding the attack on the police last night, during the night, three people were subsequently deprived of their liberty after the event. They are trying to cover up the case in terms of the events, the manner in which the attack on officials was carried out. The media should be instructed to ask the CB PG (Security Center Podgorica), the ODT PG (Basic State Prosecutor's Office Podgorica) in parallel how many people were arrested, for what offenses and whether they are known to the police," Bošković's message to Mijajlović states.

He further states that the same media should ask - what was the manner in which the criminal act was committed to the detriment of the police and what the Police Directorate plans to do to protect every police officer, protect the authority and reputation of the police and the state...

He then explains what his sources claim is happening in that service:

"According to sources from the Pg police, there is, to put it mildly, a chaotic situation among the police officers in the CB PG, the environment in which they work and function does not instill security in them, their colleagues are left without jobs, without trust in their superiors, disciplinary and criminal proceedings are being conducted, and in situations where a police officer defends his professional and service authority, they are simply put in a situation where they do not apply their legal powers out of fear of losing their jobs," explains the former Minister of Defense.

In the same message, according to the SDT document, Bošković claims that the footage of the incident was first published by Fenjer TV, and then by other media outlets, after which "an order was issued to the criminal police to collect data and find out everything about the Fenjer TV portal, who is behind it"...

Then he sends a message with the following content: "The police department issued a statement that no one carried the police officer due to his injuries, because there was no need to, in translation, because one police officer sustained minor injuries."

"The information is that they took the police officer out, not to help him, but as a form of attack, preventing him from performing his official duties and belittling him, damaging his reputation... while other police officers and citizens watched," his message quoted by prosecutors reads.

So that their hand does not tremble

According to the SDT indictment, Bošković is accused of being a member of a criminal organization allegedly formed by Mijajlović, tasked with influencing the voting rights of employees of companies affiliated with Mijajlović during the 2020 parliamentary elections.

As it is alleged, as the DPS coordinator for Berane and Andrijevica, he collected data on the political affiliations of employees and their family members, and delivered it to Mijajlović in order to pressure them to vote for DPS or not to vote at all.

Especially active ahead of the elections: Mijajlović after the hearing
Especially active ahead of the elections: Mijajlović after the hearingphoto: Luka Zeković

SDT claims that WhatsApp communications indicate that lists of employees, assessments of their political loyalty, and instructions on how to treat them were exchanged.

According to the indictment, the communication mentions checks on who "goes to the processions", who is "theirs", who is "ours", as well as agreements to assign work duties to certain workers on election day so that they cannot vote. The prosecution also cites messages from which it is clear that an agreement was made to ensure that certain people "stay home", that is, not exercise their right to vote, while for others, taking a photograph of their ballot as proof of support for the DPS was considered.

The indictment also states that Mijajlović, through business connections, tried to influence owners or employers who had workers in Berane, including collecting lists of employees with assumptions about who they would vote for.

As evidence for these claims, the SDT cites communication between Bošković and Mijajlović, voter lists, Tax Administration data on the employment of these individuals, as well as witness statements.

The prosecution concludes that by submitting this data, Bošković demonstrated his intention, together with Mijajlović, to unlawfully influence the freedom of choice of citizens when voting, with the possibility of exerting pressure through employment.

"Here's GT with us. He swears that he and his family voted for DPS in the last 2 elections. He used to be SNP. And tomorrow he will send a list of all his employees with his voting preferences. He can't guarantee everything 100%, but he has already underlined to them that if there is no vote for Bemax (DPS), there is no T either. He says that he does 80% of his work with us and he told me that there is no chance of him losing that job with us," Mijajlović sent to Bošković on August 26, 2020, and the latter replied: "Excellent."

This is happening four days before the parliamentary elections, in which the DPS lost its three-decade rule.

On the day of the vote, as alleged in the indictment, Bošković wrote to Mijajlović:

"This is great, believe me. So that those on the list can see who they're dealing with. And so that their hand doesn't tremble today about who they're going to vote for. Because there are those on this list who have changed their minds, believe me"...

During the same correspondence, the text states, they mention several names, and for one of them Mijajlović requests special verification:

"'If anyone has one, please check for me whether this one has come out?', to which the defendant Predrag Bošković asked: 'What about him', and the defendant Aleksandar Mijajlović replied: 'I'll forgive him some debt as long as he doesn't come out. He promised,'" the indictment states.

From this evidence, the special prosecutors write, the conclusion about the role of the defendant Predrag Bošković in the criminal organization is unquestionably established.

Network for dealing with opponents

The indictment states that businessman Aleksandar Mijajlović created a media network for years solely in order to deal with dissenters from the political and security leadership and the church, through loyal journalists and media platforms, but also to influence the political and security situation in the country.

The Special State Prosecutor's Office suspects that Mijajlović was directly assisted in this by the suspected high-ranking police and secret service officials Drago Spičanović, Milovan Pavicevic and Vladan Lazović, as well as his cousin, prosecutor Andrijana Nastić, who provided him with classified intelligence and information.

The organizer of the criminal group, as suspected by the SDT, received data obtained through secret surveillance measures, the content of numerous intercepted conversations, and allegedly had access to intelligence data and recordings from the National Security Agency (ANB) for years on a daily basis from the accused members.

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