Vučić protects Marović: Extradition could only occur if Montenegro annuls the decision to recognize Kosovo?

Former senior official of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Svetozar Marović could return to Montenegro as a free man as early as October.

After he went to Belgrade ten years ago and avoided serving a sentence for corruption, Serbia did not extradite him despite numerous requests.

Is this a matter of political protection and who bears responsibility for the fact that Marović's prison sentence will soon expire?

A decade ago, Marović, as the accused head of an organized crime group, crossed the Montenegrin border to allegedly seek medical treatment in Belgrade. In the fall, on October 10th, to be exact, he could cross the Montenegrin border again, this time as a free man.

"With the onset of absolute statute of limitations for the execution of a sentence, the state's right to proceed with the forced execution of a criminal sanction ceases by force of law. Therefore, the statute of limitations excludes the possibility of applying any coercive measures with the aim of sending the convicted person to serve a prison sentence under the aforementioned verdict," the Higher Court in Podgorica announced.

The High Court sentenced him to three years and nine months in prison as the head of an organized crime group that caused tens of millions of euros in damage to Budva, and ordered him to pay compensation of 1,1 million euros and 100 euros for humanitarian purposes. However, the Serbian authorities have not paid much attention to this for years, and the extradition requests that the Montenegrin Ministry of Justice has persistently sent are just gathering dust.

The only way to clear the dust, it seems, is to annul Montenegro's decision to recognize Kosovo. This has been acknowledged on several occasions by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, as well as his political allies from Montenegro, effectively admitting that Serbia is protecting Marović from punishment.

"Have you heard a hundred times, 'Vučić, where is our Svetozar Marović?' They recognized an independent Kosovo, they are furious that you did not extradite so-and-so to us, it's a trifle, it's about one man, they took away 14 percent of our territory," Vučić said on July 4.

"I see that you are very concerned about the return of some people from the past, and I think that we should all welcome the return of a celebrity, Mr. Svetozar Marović, whom you can use your authority to ensure is finally extradited to Montenegro, after so many requests," said Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić on July 6.

"Withdraw the decision to recognize Kosovo, Svetozar Marović will be extradited to you immediately," said the president and MP of the Democratic People's Party (DNP), Milan Knežević, on July 6th.

Since the chances of that happening are slim, it is even slimmer that Marović will be handcuffed again, even his former party admits.

"When that hasn't happened so far, I assume that there is no decisive intention for it to happen, but let's leave that space, let's say in the finale of that deadline, let's see if something can happen. I'm not optimistic that some epochal turn can happen here," said DPS MP Mihailo Andjušić.

When asked if the statute of limitations eventually runs out, whether they see at least some responsibility for the former DPS government, given that Marović fled to Serbia when the DPS was in power, Andjušić replied: "Do we see some personal responsibility in the sense that our high-ranking party official is accused and convicted of corruption? Of course we do. But in this case, the judicial authorities of the state of Montenegro have done part of the work that was theirs and I do not see excessive responsibility in that regard."

Marović was the head of the Montenegrin parliament, deputy prime minister, long-time closest party associate of the former prime minister and president of Montenegro and former DPS leader Milo Đukanović, and one of the main ideologists of the DPS, which ruled Montenegro for three decades. It should also be remembered that Marović was the only president of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, from its formation in 2003 until its separation in 2006.