UP and VDT: Murder in Šekular solved, suspect fled Montenegro

The police and prosecutor's office have solved the murder that took place last year in Šekular, near Berane. A citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan (56) is suspected of being involved in the murder, and is believed to have fled Montenegro.

The Police Directorate and the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje state that months of action by the prosecutor's office and the police led to the clarification of the criminal offense of aggravated murder that occurred in the town of Šekular, Berane municipality, which resulted in the discovery of the perpetrator of this serious crime, who was determined to be a citizen of Azerbaijan.

"After several months of joint activities of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje and officers of the Regional Security Center 'North', evidence was obtained that provides grounds for suspicion that a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan SR(56) committed the aforementioned criminal offense to the detriment of SF(24), also a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan," the statement reads.

It is added that the evidence was collected during the investigation process - an on-site investigation where numerous pieces of evidence were seized and were subject to expert examination pursuant to previously obtained orders from the Higher Court, orders from the Higher State Prosecutor's Office sent to the Danilovgrad Forensic Center, an autopsy of the victim was performed, while part of the evidence was obtained through a request from the Higher State Prosecutor's Office under the Law on International Legal Assistance, sent to the Republic of Azerbaijan, and part of the evidence was obtained by officers of the Police Directorate through international operational cooperation - Interpol.

"The aforementioned activities resulted in the identification of the suspect and the clarification of this criminal offense. The complexity of this criminal offense was reflected in the very fact that it was an unknown identity of the person deprived of life, as well as an unknown perpetrator, which was a great challenge for clarifying the entire event and collecting material evidence that led to the basis for suspicion that the suspect SR committed a criminal offense to the detriment of SF. The criminal investigation led to the suspicion that both the victim and the suspect were staying in the territory of Berane, and that the injured SF was last seen on November 17, 2025, or 40 days before his lifeless body was found," the statement reads.

It is added that there is suspicion that SF was killed in a building in a village near Berane.

"It is suspected that SR committed the crime after a verbal conflict with SF by physically attacking SF and inflicting several blows to the head, resulting in the victim's death. After depriving him of his life, it is suspected that SR, with the intention of concealing the commission of the crime, also took another action - moving and hiding the lifeless body, after which, according to the evidence collected, he left Montenegro via a neighboring country in a very short time," the statement reads.

The murder suspect, it is added, undertook numerous activities to destroy traces and evidence that resulted from the commission of the crime, as well as measures that made it difficult to identify this person.

"We remind you that on December 27, 2025, the Berane Security Department was reported that the lifeless body of an unknown man was found in the riverbed in the town of Šekular. An autopsy performed by a forensic expert determined that the death was violent, while no personal documents were found on the victim. A particularly demanding segment of this phase of the procedure related to determining the identity of the found body, especially due to the time distance - the passage of time from the commission of the criminal offense to the discovery of the lifeless body, which body, after an autopsy, DNA analysis and intensive international data exchange, was identified as SF (24), a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan," it was announced.