A Montenegro court has ordered the pretrial detention for up to 30 days of former chief special prosecutor Milivoje Katnic and former deputy police director Zoran Lazovic, who were arrested on April 14 in a corruption scandal with links to the organized crime that has shaken the tiny Adriatic republic.
"Their detention was ordered due to the risk of their escape and possible influence on the witnesses," Marija Rakovic, a spokeswoman for the High Court in Podgorica, told RFE/RL on April 16.
The Special State Prosecutor's Office said the two are charged with forming and participating in a criminal organization and abuse of office.
Lazovic is accused of creating the criminal organization whose members are alleged to have been Katnic, who was Montenegro's chief special prosecutor from 2015 until February 2022, ex-special prosecutor Sasa Cadjenovic, and Lazovic's son, ex-National Security Agency (ANB) agent Petar Lazovic.
Zoran Piperovic, Lazovic's lawyer, said his client was accused of lifting a ban on entry into Montenegro in 2021 of two Serbian members of Montenegro's notorious Kavac crime clan, Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljkovic. Katnic allegedly aided Lazovic.
After a 10-day stay in Montenegro, Belivuk and Miljkovic were arrested in February 2021 upon their return to Serbia, where they are currently on trial for several murders they apparently boasted about to members of their criminal group.
In Montenegro, the two clan members are suspected of kidnapping a member of a rival clan in October 2020, who they then handed over to other members of the Kavac group.
The kidnapped man, Mileta Radulovic, a member of the Skaljari clan, was found dead after two months of torture.
Caidenovic was arrested in December 2022 for alleged links to the Kavac clan.
Petar Lazovic was an ANB agent until July 2022, when he was arrested on charges of drug smuggling.
Cadjenovic and the younger Lazovic have been in custody since their arrest.
The Special State Prosecutor’s Office on April 14 said the investigation against Lazovic and Katnic had gone on for several months in cooperation with the Europol, The EU agency for law enforcement.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic hailed the arrests, saying he backed the fight against corruption and organized crime -- two issues that have long plagued Montenegro.
President Jakov Milatovic said the arrests marked a step on the road of improving the rule of law in Montenegro.
Former Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic who, while in office had accused Katnic and Lazovic of being “at the top of the criminal pyramid in Montenegro,” also welcomed the arrests.