Former long-term employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro Radomir Sekulović he is suspected of having worked for the Russian intelligence service for years and of being the head of a group that sent classified information to Moscow, "Vijesti" learns.
Sekulović, six employees of the Russian embassy and several citizens of that country are therefore under investigation by the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), in an action coordinated by the National Security Agency (ANB). He was taken into custody yesterday morning, while the searches of alleged members of his group continued throughout the day, several sources told Vijesti.
Those activities, according to unofficial sources, are part of a broader action that ANB is implementing in coordination with international partners.
Special prosecutor and spokesperson of SDT Vukas Radonjic he confirmed that the action on suspicion of espionage is ongoing, stating that there are no arrests.
"At the request of the SDT, and by order of the High Court in Podgorica, the police searched the apartments and other premises of several citizens, due to the grounds of suspicion that the crimes committed were the creation of a criminal organization and espionage. For now, no one has been deprived of their liberty," according to the statement of the special prosecutor delivered to the media.
Last night, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that six employees of the Russian Embassy were declared undesirable in Montenegro, because they violated the diplomatic rules between the two countries, prescribed by the Vienna Convention.
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The Criminal Code of Montenegro prescribes a prison sentence of three to 15 years for the criminal offense of espionage, as well as for another criminal offense - the creation of a criminal organization.
According to "Vijesti" information, the group that worked for the Russian intelligence service allegedly contains about 20 members, to whom Sekulović was superior.
ANB did not comment yesterday, nor did SDT comment on whether the apprehension could be linked to the recent hacker attacks on the country, which officials suggested pointed to Moscow by all elements.
Officials previously confirmed that experts from America and France helped detect the attacks and, as explained, prevent them in the future.
Yesterday's action takes place in a situation where Europe is facing a war in Ukraine, and the European Commission introduced additional sanctions against Russia two days ago. And the Government of Montenegro previously supported the position of the EC in the policy of sanctions.
When it comes to MFA official Radomir Sekulović, he came to that ministry during the mandate of the former head of diplomacy. Milan Rocen, and retired from 2019.
Sekulović was a journalist for Tanjug in London and at that time he publicly propagated the views of the Serbian Radical Party and its leader Vojislav Seselj.
He came to Montenegro in the mid-nineties and started working in the Government Secretariat for Information as an assistant secretary. At the time of the schism in the Democratic Party, the socialist became a fierce opponent and critic Momir Bulatović and sympathetic to the movement he led within the DPS Milo Djukanovic.
He was the spokesperson of the MFA when he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dragisa Burzan, then the cadre of the SDP. Burzan then dismissed him because of a public statement in which he expressed his disagreement with the boss regarding the fact that Montenegro should sign a bilateral agreement with the USA on non-extradition of American soldiers to the international criminal court.
Certain Montenegrin officials, including the Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic, welcomed the action of ANB and SDT yesterday.
"This is an international action that is implemented with our partners and aims to preserve the national interests of Montenegro," he said at the Government session yesterday.
"Vijesti" contacted the embassies of Russia and influential Western countries yesterday. The Russian Embassy did not answer questions about whether there were Russian citizens among those arrested and who they were.
"The UK government does not comment on intelligence issues," the British Embassy replied.
"For all questions related to the activities of the Montenegrin police, we refer you to the relevant Montenegrin authorities"; it was announced from the US Embassy.
The action of the ANB against several persons suspected of creating a criminal organization and espionage is not surprising, said the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Rasko Konjević.
"That is a political assessment and I would stop there. It is very important that first the ANB, and then the Special State Prosecutor's Office (STP), worked on such an activity," Konjević told TV E. Now, he added, it should be left to the STP to see things through to the end.
Former Minister of Defense and deputy of the Democratic Party of Socialists Predrag Boskovic yesterday, he congratulated ANB on the action, stating that it restores the trust of citizens and partners in ANB.
He expressed the hope that, as he wrote on Twitter, those who work for other services will also be subject to processing and prosecution.
Former Minister of Internal Affairs and leader of the United Montenegro Goran Danilović wrote on Facebook that 70 years ago the then state arrested "workers, peasants and rotten intelligentsia" and brought them to Goli Otok because they worked for Russia.
"Today, history repeats itself, of course, as a farce. I have no idea who it is and who they have now found to be a hardened Baćušković, but I am somehow convinced that witches are being hunted and spies are being hunted again, and as always, they would have to be Russian or Serbian," he stated, among other things.
Vice-President of the Social Democrats Danilo Orlandic with the support of the ANB, he stated in the statement that he "believes and expects that the Montenegrin intelligence service will continue to act in this direction and that the agents of other intelligence services will not be spared."
"Now I guess it is clear to everyone that our warnings about harmful Russian influence were not unfounded, but that the threat to the security system and Montenegro in general was and is completely real," he said.
NATO: Strengthening capabilities to prevent and respond to malicious cyber activities
Montenegro is not the only country, a member of NATO, which is exposed to cyber attacks, it was confirmed by "Vijesta" from that alliance.
NATO said that cyber space is challenging and they see cyber attacks every day. "Cyberspace is always challenging. We see cyber attacks every day and NATO and our allies are responding to this reality, including strengthening our ability to detect, prevent and respond to malicious cyber activity. "NATO is an important platform for consultations among allies, including for the exchange of information on malicious cyber activities," said the Alliance, responding to the News' questions which NATO members, except for Montenegro, were recently targeted by cyber attacks, which countries NATO provides help in remediating the consequences of those attacks and from which countries those attacks came.
Prime Minister Dritan Abazović said yesterday that the Council for National Security will meet soon and that the session will have a more detailed report on hacker attacks, considering that foreign experts are doing "analysis and defense of our system".
"We need to get our system up and running by the end of next week. I also understand the nervousness of citizens and that many things are waiting, including tenders and some fees for certain persons. But we live in the 21st century and many countries are not immune to hacker attacks. It should have been thought about earlier, and not now is it expected that the Government, which has been there for 150 days, will establish a system that is impenetrable. That is not realistic", said the Prime Minister in Nikšić.
As he pointed out, he expects things to return to normal very soon, and until then everyone has to "work a little differently".
Radonjić: Respect the presumption of innocence
Yesterday, SDT spokesman Vukas Radonjić called on the media and public figures that, as he stated, they are obliged to "follow the rules on respect for the presumption of innocence and not to violate the rights of the citizens who are being searched" with their statements about the ongoing procedure. .
He reacted after media reports about the arrests and the Prime Minister's statement on the subject.
"The activity was planned a little earlier and was activated last night. Several persons were arrested this morning. I mean, arrested... while they go to the prosecutor, while they are ordered to be detained, if they are ordered, it often causes some discussions in Montenegro. In any case, searches are being conducted at several locations and several persons are involved. It has an international character. We are ready to protect the national interest of Montenegro in every segment", said Abazović in Nikšić.
He congratulated everyone who participated in the action. "I hope that this will result in us having less malignant influence in Montenegro," he added.
When asked if he could announce the names of those arrested, Abazović said that the action was "under strict secrecy" and that the only relevant address was the Special Prosecutor's Office.
"We will carry out activities further in this regard," he said.
Penalties for heads and officials of foreign services in Montenegro
The Criminal Code prescribes imprisonment from three to 15 years for those who "communicate, hand over or make available secret information or documents to a foreign state, foreign organization or a person serving them".
"Whoever creates an intelligence service in Montenegro for a foreign country or organization or manages it, will be sentenced to five to fifteen years in prison. Whoever joins a foreign intelligence service, collects information for it or otherwise helps its work, will be punished by imprisonment from two to ten years... Whoever obtains secret information or documents with the intention of communicating or handing them over to a foreign state, foreign organization or person who serves them, will be punished with imprisonment from one to eight years," the Criminal Code states, among other things.
This year, 11 Russian diplomats were declared undesirable
Yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared six diplomats of the Embassy of the Russian Federation accredited in Montenegro persona non grata. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the decision was made due to activities that are in conflict with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Relations of Mutual Respect and Respect between the two states.
The Russian Embassy announced last night that due to, as they stated, the hostile behavior of the Montenegrin authorities, they are suspending the work of the consular department for an indefinite period.
Previously, in April of this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared four diplomats of that Embassy undesirable persons, while at the beginning of March, the diplomat of Russia in Montenegro, Viktor Antipin, received that status.
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