Out-of-court settlement proves abuse of official position by former mayor Injac

Revenge and retaliation that have characterized the post-August pro-Russian and pro-Serbian authorities after the 2020 elections, both at the state and local levels, have resulted in compensation being paid to yet another unlawfully dismissed official - the former head of the Capital City Protection and Rescue Service, Goran Janković, who had been targeted since October 2023 by then-mayor Olivera Injac, when she first dismissed him, only half a year after being elected as the head of the Podgorica municipality.

All her decisions in the Janković case were overturned by the Appeals Commission of the Government of Montenegro and inspections, yet she persisted in the persecution, which was continued by her successor Saša Mujović. On August 7 last year, he made an astonishing decision to terminate Janković’s employment retroactively, almost a year back, to take effect from October 2024. This decision was also overturned on December 25, 2025.

TARGETED FOR BEING „TOO MUCH“ OF A MONTENEGRIN

On March 13 this year, Janković signed an out-of-court settlement with Mayor Mujović, according to which he was paid a total of 35,034.62 euros.

- …the Capital City of Podgorica undertakes to pay Goran Janković, on the basis of compensation for material damage arising from employment due to unlawful dismissal, for the period from October 12, 2023 to March 1, 2025, the amount of 29,879.42 euros in unpaid wages, along with statutory default interest in the amount of 5,155.20 euros - the document reviewed by Portal ETV states.

After her October 12, 2023 dismissal decision was overturned, Injac issued a new, identical decision on February 29, 2024, which was again annulled by the Government Commission.

Subsequently, on August 3, 2024, as stated in the settlement document, she issued a decision to terminate the dismissal procedure against Janković, but this too was annulled by the Government Appeals Commission on December 26 of that year, following an appeal by his attorney Maja Zeković.

The Capital City also paid Janković compensation for unused annual leave for 2024 and is obligated to pay his mandatory social security contributions, as well as to credit his years of service with extended duration (benefited service – 12/16) for the period from October 12, 2023 to March 1, 2025.

In addition, the Capital City must cover the costs of Janković’s legal representation as well as the fees of a court expert witness.

On the other hand, Janković committed to withdrawing the lawsuit he filed with the Basic Court in Podgorica once the Capital City fulfills its obligations.

He previously told Portal ETV that Injac dismissed him for political reasons.

- She told me that I am too much of a Montenegrin, that I love the West, while she prefers the East - Janković said.

UNDER THE PROTECTION OF VLADIMIR NOVOVIĆ

The out-of-court settlement clearly confirms that the former mayor committed a serious criminal offense and caused significant financial damage to the Capital City; however, there is little hope that she will be held accountable.

She was never held responsible for numerous abuses of office during her tenure as Minister of Defense, even though she herself admitted that she had „slightly violated the Constitution“. She was spared prosecution by Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović.

According to an investigation by Television E from February 19 this year, Novović halted proceedings against Injac in order to secure his own position.

During the 13 months she headed the Ministry of Defense, she faced as many as four criminal complaints.

As reported by Television E, the first complaint, filed on March 23, 2021, accused her of abuse of office for employing a retired warrant officer of the Montenegrin Army, Miodrag Jokanović, in the Intelligence and Security Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.

The second complaint, filed on April 13, 2021, also concerned abuse of office, as she employed an active military officer, Lieutenant Colonel Veljko Mališić, without a decision of the Defense Council and in violation of the Law on the Army of Montenegro.

The third complaint arose from the „cadets“ affair, i.e., the unlawful elimination of Marko Mitrović, the son of former special prosecutor Lidija Mitrović, from studies at the Military Academy in Greece.

The fourth complaint was filed by officer Igor Knežević for „abuse of position and constitutional discrimination“.

However, according to TV E, Chief Special Prosecutor Novović effectively halted all proceedings by issuing two binding instructions not to prosecute Olivera Injac.

- …he received an ultimatum from the top of the post-August government, primarily from Spajić’s Europe Now Movement: if he continued prosecuting officials of that party, he risked being removed from his position as head of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office - the investigation showed, also noting threats that his past irregularities would be exposed from his time as a member of the Judicial Council’s evaluation commission, where, by inflating scores, he allegedly helped judge Seka Piletić advance to the Supreme Court.

BLEČIĆ’S BENEFITS FROM OFFICE

Injac, a member of the Europe Now Movement, the party of Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, was rewarded for her loyalty to the post-August pro-Russian and pro-Serbian authorities with a diplomatic appointment. After resigning as mayor of Podgorica on December 29, 2024, following extraordinary local elections, she was appointed Montenegro’s ambassador to Belgium last year.

Injac did not cause damage to the Capital City only through the unlawful dismissal of Janković, but also through the illegal appointment of Zdravko Blečić as head of the Protection and Rescue Service.

- Blečić unlawfully received a managerial salary, led the service, ruined interpersonal relations within it, and brought it to the brink of collapse. Thanks to that salary, he acquired the right to a pension under favorable conditions - sources from the Capital City told Portal ETV.

However, the prosecution remained silent and inactive regarding Injac’s unlawful actions, even though citizens are paying for such decisions, along with her high salary and other benefits she enjoys in diplomatic service.