JANOVIĆ’S OPERATION: Retirement of the disfavored and appointment of loyalists within the NSA

The head of the National Security Agency, Ivica Janović, is in a race against time and is seeking an answer to the question - how to complete the personnel restructuring within the NSA before Brussels halts the entire operation?

VARIOUS MODELS FOR „THEIR PEOPLE“

The Agency’s director and his advisers have accelerated the process of cleansing the institution of politically unsuitable staff to the maximum extent. On the very day when Members of the European Parliament publicly warned the Montenegrin authorities over the unilateral adoption of amendments to the Law on Internal Affairs and the Law on the National Security Agency, the Agency further accelerated the hiring of individuals close to the Europe Now Movement.

In doing so, no method, template, or model is being avoided in order to employ party-loyal individuals.

- People are being hired who previously had negative security clearances, and those negative assessments are now being rewritten into positive ones. A significant role in these operations is played by newly employed psychologist Ana Đurić, who, at the personal request of Ivica Janović, has given several positive opinions for candidates who previously could not even enter the shortlist - a source from the National Securtiy Agency told ETV.

At the same time, the NSA leadership is pressuring employees they consider politically unsuitable and who have met retirement requirements to retire as soon as possible. Particular pressure is being placed on experienced officers whose relatives are also employed within the Agency.

ZIROJEVIĆ: ALARMING INFORMATION

Member of Parliament of the European Alliance, Nikola Zirojević, Deputy Chair of the Committee for Defence and Security, stated for ETV that the information he has received is alarming, and indicates that political purges may be taking place within the NSA.

- The information I have obtained through conversations with certain officers in that Agency is that not everyone is treated equally, and that rather questionable new individuals are being brought into service - people who initially did not pass security checks, but later, under very suspicious circumstances, managed to pass them - Zirojević said, adding that at the same time, officers considered politically unsuitable are being forced into retirement decisions.

NEW APPOINTMENTS

According to Television E sources, in the past two weeks, several positions that became vacant after retirements have been quickly filled with politically loyal individuals.

Thus, Martina Simonović was appointed chief inspector in the Organized Crime Sector, although she does not have the required years of experience. Last year, Simonović was employed as an assistant to the secretary of the head of the Podgorica center, whose sister-in-law is the wife of operations manager Nebojša Nedović.

Slavko Gačević was appointed head of the Department for Economic Security, also without experience or the necessary professional references. The key recommendation for these appointments is their support for the political program of the Europe Now Movement.

MP Zirojević emphasizes that he intended to question the leadership of the National Security Agency on all of this at a session of the Committee for Defence and Security, but the session was not held due to a boycott by members of the parliamentary majority.

WAITING FOR THE COMMITTEE SESSION

- The next Committee session is scheduled for July 1st. Agency representatives have confirmed their attendance, just as they did previously when there was no quorum and they still showed up. We will see whether the parliamentary majority will provide a quorum for the session - Zirojević said.

There are reasons for the opposition MP’s skepticism that the next Defence and Security Committee session will actually take place.

Information that a number of Agency officers have filed a criminal complaint with the Special State Prosecutor’s Office over the alleged abuse of work mobile phones for surveillance and tracking has reportedly seriously disturbed Ivica Janović. According to ETV sources, the Agency director has requested that his closest associates urgently respond with a public statement.

JANOVIĆ’S RACE AGAINST TIME

Despite the Agency’s statement, international standards do not allow for such surveillance of NSA employees.

Professional use of work mobile devices implies very restrictive usage, and Janović’s insistence and that of his closest associates that phones must always be carried suggests the need for unlawful control over NSA staff.

Therefore, it is quite possible that - due to uncomfortable questions that could be raised by Zirojević or other opposition MPs - members of the parliamentary majority will again obstruct the holding of the committee session.

In this way, Janović and his team at the top of the NSA would gain time to complete personnel reshuffling before Brussels, from the European Commission, issues a firm stance that further abuse of the Law on the National Security Agency is prohibited.

And that prohibition, after today’s adoption of the Report on Montenegro, is only a matter of days.