In November 2020, Marinko Banović (50) from Podgorica wrote, via the then-protected Sky app, to his friend and partner in criminal activities, Đuro Vujović, that the then Prime Minister Duško Marković had protected him and advised him to step down.
This is stated in the Europol report, in which portal Libertas had insight, which arrived at the Montenegrin prosecutor's office and police three years ago.
Duško Marković denied this to Libertas yesterday and said he did not know him.
In a conversation via the Sky app, Banović, among other things, had the following correspondence with his partner in crime, Đuro Vujović, in November 2020:
Banović: I'm sitting and waiting for better days.
Vujović: It seems they are Kavači. That's why I asked you.
Banović: Possible. Who the f**k. I'm completely decimated right now. It's the only thing that makes sense to me and the only way I can survive. Right now, even the wrong word can break my head. They've totally f**ked me up.
Vujović: I know, brother, everything, just be careful.
Banović. Everything the man here told me was confirmed to me.
Vujović: There you see.
Banović: And he told me to completely withdraw and not say a word about them.
Vujović: Who is that?
Banović: Duško Marković. He stood behind me.
Vujović: A. Okay, brother.
Banović: They would have skinned me if he hadn't been there. We'll talk when you get here, brother.
Vujović: Sure. You see how organized they are. Who knows who else they are with. Ok brother.
Banović: That's why you shouldn't take them in your mouth. Forget your job. Trust no one. Nothing to do with the family. I'll throw myself at the Bandićs now and I won't come out. I'm waiting for you to come. That's it. I don't trust anyone anymore. Okay, brother. Get your head in the sand, don't worry about anyone, do your job. That's the only way to survive. Total retreat, like the Serbian army on Corfu. Then wait for some better-off allies to lead the fight. You'll see what patience means.
Yesterday, when asked by Libertas whether he knew Marinko Banović and, if so, what the nature of their relationship was, whether it was true that he advised and protected him, and, if so, from whom and what he protected him, Duško Marković replied that he had only met him once by chance.
"During a chance meeting, Marinko Banovic was introduced to me as the brother of a long-time head of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit of the Ministry of the Interior. I have never had any personal or telephone communication with him. Also, he has never asked me for any kind of support or service, nor was he able to get it," Markovic's response reads.
Maković held various positions during the rule of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS). He was also the director of the National Security Agency for 12 years. After that, he served as deputy prime minister and minister of justice. Maković served as prime minister from 2016 to 2020, when the DPS lost power in the elections.
He was very quickly politically marginalized within the DPS, according to Libertas.
Marković founded the Party of European Progress (SEP) in 2024 because, he said at the time, he saw the future of Montenegro differently from the DPS.
He also announced that his party wants to give Montenegro a chance to recover.
Although, judging by the transcripts of conversations Banović had with Vujović, as well as other criminals, it is clear that it is justified that he is registered as a dangerous criminal in Montenegrin police records, he has not yet been held accountable before the law, writes Libertas.
Judging by Banović's conversations via the Sky app, photos and recordings, in recent years he has been involved in planning murders, drug trafficking, cigarette smuggling, illegal possession of weapons and explosives and arms trafficking, loan sharking, threats, extortion...
A report by Europol, the European Union agency that helps police forces jointly investigate and combat serious international crime and terrorism, also states that Banović allegedly received sensitive police intelligence from his brother Mirko, an active police officer, as well as other officers of the Police Directorate.
Banović was arrested in 2017.
The police then found two sniper rifles with optical sights and silencers, a large amount of ammunition and shells for these weapons, an encrypted phone, in the Land Rover he was driving...
With him in the vehicle was Đuro Vujović, who then escaped from the police by jumping out of the jeep, but surrendered to the police two days later.
Although immediately after their arrest, the police and prosecutor's office assessed that their arrest had prevented a murder, they were not charged with it.
That same year, Banović and Vujović were sentenced to eight months in prison each for the criminal offense of illegal possession of weapons.
They previously settled with the prosecution and signed a plea agreement.
They reached a settlement with the prosecutor of the Basic Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, Jelena Protić, and it was accepted and ruled by the judge of the Podgorica Basic Court, Rade Ćetković.
The police and prosecutor's office have not commented on the matter to date.
Rečević was the chief of the Podgorica police when Banović and Vujović were arrested in 2017.
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