Some of the border police allegedly took bribes from people entering or leaving the country for months, in almost every shift they worked.
This was told unofficially to Vijesti from several sources involved in the investigation that resulted in the arrest of the border guard from Božaj yesterday. Nikola Janičić, Zoran Radonjić, Igor Živković, Enver Dresaj, Moma Popivode, Ivan Boljević, Vasa Radunovića i Dragoman Milošević.
"At the entrance and exit lanes, one person from the shift was in charge of taking the money, and then at the end of the shift they distributed the 'loot'. They were monitored for months and evidence was found that it was a serious amount of money that they took in order to do, that is, they failed to perform an official action... Those who bribed them would put the money in their travel documents," said the interlocutor from the investigation.
It is not specified which figure it is, but it is proven that the police officers received bribes from 27 persons against whom criminal charges were filed.
Yesterday, seven border police officers were deprived of their freedom at their workplace, at the Božaj border crossing, and one in Danilovgrad.
They were handcuffed after they were disarmed by members of the Special Police Unit.
During the operation, one of the suspects fell ill and was initially transported to the Emergency Medical Service in Tuzi, and then he was hospitalized in the Clinical Center in Podgorica.
At an extraordinary media conference, the Minister of the Interior Danilo Šaranović he did not specify how much money the suspects took.
"The material evidence points to the suspicion that police officers who have been deprived of their liberty for a long period of time took money from travelers who crossed the border crossing in order to fail to perform official actions and also, within the scope of their authority, took money for official actions that they had to to execute," Saranović said.
He pointed out that the officers of the Department for Internal Control of the Police, in continuation of that action, in cooperation with the officers of the Sector for the fight against crime and at the behest of the acting prosecutor, are taking further measures and actions within their jurisdiction with the aim of depriving the freedom of foreign nationals who are suspected of bribing police officers border crossing "Božaj".
He pointed out that the MUP and the Police Directorate are focused on achieving the full integrity of that institution and that their priority is the decisive fight against crime and corruption.
Saranović pointed out that he is aware that the arrest of two former directors of the UP, two assistant directors of the security institution, and numerous police officers have put a burden on the reputation of the police apparatus.
"Because of all of the above, but also because of the debt to the honorable, brave and professional police officers who risk their lives every day in order to guarantee the safety of the citizens of Montenegro and the people who live in it in the best way, we are obliged to eradicate corruption in our ranks," he said. he.
Emphasizing that a whole series of control mechanisms have been launched within the ministry that are producing enviable results, Šaranović pointed out that they have brought to an end the work that "now it is clear for what reasons, someone did not want to finish it for years" - the adoption of the rulebook on property, income and lifestyle control police officers.
"We have completed this rulebook, which will be the basis for checking the property and lifestyle of all police officers, in the shortest possible time, it has been sent to the competent state authorities for their opinion, and the only thing left is to get the opinion of the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data and Free Access to Information. So , our goal is not only to discover any illegal behavior of police officers, but also to protect professional police officers from such a burden... The aforementioned actions will be continued in the coming period through the joint activities of the internal control of the police and the anti-crime sector, because our determination to we will not remain mute and blind to any illegality and abuse, it must be clear to everyone," Saranović said.
ODT: We issued an arrest warrant for eight policemen
The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, headed by Duško Milanović, announced that the prosecutor's office had issued an order to arrest eight border police officers.
"In the case that is being processed in this prosecution for the criminal offense of receiving a bribe, the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica issued an order to the Ministry of Internal Affairs - Department for Internal Control of the Police to deprive eight police officers of the Border Police Sector (JN, RZ, Ž. I., ED, PM, BI, RV and MD)," the prosecution's statement reads.
Minister of Internal Affairs Danilo Šaranović announced at a press conference that the Department for Internal Control of the Police, in coordination with acting prosecutor Ivana Petrušić Vukašević, the Border Police Sector and the Special Police Unit, implemented a multi-month operational action.
"The aforementioned action was carried out and was aimed at discovering the illegal behavior of police officers in the performance of police duties and the application of police powers. Based on established facts and evidence that indicated the illegal behavior of police officers, the Department for Internal Police Control told the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, filed a criminal complaint against eight police officers due to the existence of reasonable suspicion that they had committed multiple criminal offenses in the extended period of accepting bribes from Article 423 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, as well as against 27 foreign citizens of Albania, Kosovo and Turkey, who in individual cases had committed the same number of crimes from Article 424 of the Criminal Code - bribery," Šaranović said.
Bonus video:
