Is it politics, rather than evidence, that writes indictments at the Special State Prosecutor’s Office?
Businessman Aleksandar Mijajlović has been in the Spuž prison since the beginning of October last year, when the Special State Prosecutor’s Office suspected him of forming a criminal organization that was supposed to influence the creation of public opinion through politicians and the media. However, the order to conduct an investigation contains no evidence of any criminal offense, while the evident selectivity of the prosecutorial trio inevitably points to the political background of the constructed case
Following the shocking discovery by journalists from Television E that the same 12 sentences from Sky messages were used by special prosecutors to construct indictments against Aleksandar Mijajlović in both the cocaine smuggling and cigarette trafficking cases, the Special State Prosecutor’s Office is deliberately delaying - until the final deadline of April 3 - the filing of a third indictment against the Podgorica businessman.
CHRONICLE OF AN ANNOUNCED ARREST
Mijajlović was arrested less than six months ago, on October 3, 2025, together with five other individuals for multiple criminal offenses, including allegations that - through misuse of the media - he influenced public opinion and the exercise of voting rights of citizens of Montenegro.
He had previously been targeted in the daily newspaper „Vijesti“, and even before Mijajlović’s defense attorneys, the Montenegrin public learned details from the order to conduct an investigation. However, only carefully selected details were released, again through „Vijesti“, in order to target not only Aleksandar Mijajlović, but also media outlets that critically report on the government in Montenegro.
Although the order to conduct the investigation does not contain a single concrete piece of evidence, the defense attorneys believe that the Special Prosecutor’s Office will nevertheless file an indictment, in order to prolong Mijajlović’s detention.
- I expect an indictment to be filed because that case keeps Aleksandar Mijajlović in detention: he was ordered into custody in that case and, note, on all four legal grounds for detention?! This is beyond grotesque, but we know why this is so - because the order came from politics. It is well known that Boris Bogdanović ends every sentence with Aleksandar Mijajlović, every political thought, every statement - said attorney Zoran Piperović in an interview with ETV.
Piperović points out that in this way, the Democratic Party official is sending messages to people in the judiciary not to attempt anything contrary to the interests of the authorities in Mijajlović’s case.
Attorney Mihailo Volkov also expects an indictment to be filed.
- Yes, I expect an indictment to be filed, although everything I have had the opportunity to hear during the investigation as the defense attorney for Milovan Pavićević and Predrag Bušković indicates nothing that would suggest my clients committed a criminal offense - Volkov stated to ETV.
SELECTIVE TARGETING BY THE PROSECUTORIAL TRIO
The trio of prosecutors - Miroslav Turković, Ivana Petrušić Vukašević and Jovan Vukotić -targeted six critical media outlets - Portal ETV, CDM, Portal Analitika, Standard, Pobjeda, and Antena M - claiming they were under the influence of Aleksandar Mijajlović.
Interestingly, prosecutors even listed Portal ETV as a target of Mijajlović back in 2020, although that media outlet only began operating four years later.
It turned out that targeting the media was a deliberate manipulation by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office. This is supported by the fact that the prosecution selected media outlets whose editors or directors had contact with Mijajlović, while deliberately avoiding mentioning the executive director of „Vijesti“ Marijana Kadić Bojanić, until attorney Piperović revealed that she had also communicated with the Podgorica businessman, who owns a media buying agency.
Attorney Volkov emphasized that testimonies from editors and journalists of the targeted media clearly showed that the communication was purely business-related, while Mijajlović’s defense attorney, Zoran Piperović, claims that the actions of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office are guided by - politics.
- There is no judiciary in the region or in Europe where political influence is as dominant as in Montenegro. They may admit it or not, but it is so evident and visible that it hurts the eyes - Piperović stressed.
A GROUP WHOSE MEMBERS DO NOT COMMUNICATE?
That politics, rather than evidence, is shaping prosecutorial acts is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that among the suspects - listed as an alleged member of Mijajlović’s criminal group solely due to private messages exchanged with him - is his cousin, suspended prosecutor Andrijana Nastić.
The Special State Prosecutor’s Office also identified as members former and current police officers - Drago Spičanović, Vladan Lazović, Milovan Pavićević, as well as a Democratic Party of Socialists official Predrag Bošković.
In the order to conduct an investigation, the prosecutorial trio did not establish any mutual connection between members of the alleged criminal group. How, then, was this group organized if not a single mutual contact between five out of the six members was recorded?
WHEN WITNESSES DENY THE ACCUSATIONS
Attorney Mihailo Volkov further pointed out that all questioned witnesses, employees of Bemax and Genex. denied that anyone influenced them before voting, including Aleksandar Mijajlović or DPS official Predrag Bošković.
- It remains unclear how influence was exerted on these people when they themselves testified that no one contacted them or exerted any influence, and that some of them were not even present at their workplace in Berane that day, nor did they express a desire or intention to exercise their voting rights - Volkov said.
However, it is evident that the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Vladimir Novović, has a clear agenda. Which, unfortunately for Montenegrin society, often does not depend on -evidentiary material.
WAITING FOR (IN)JUSTICE
The cases initiated against businessman Aleksandar Mijajlović, as well as his months-long detention in Spuž prison, have become one of the most striking examples of how the line between justice and politics is becoming increasingly blurred. The coming months will therefore be a serious test for institutions that claim to act in the name of the law, rather than in the interest of those who increasingly threaten judicial vetting whenever they dislike a court decision.
This test will also include the indictment which, according to the defense’s expectations, the Special State Prosecutor’s Office will file against Mijajlović and the alleged members of his criminal group before the High Court no later than April 3, when the deadline for completing the investigation expires.