The case of Prosecutor Mitrović: When politics takes over the judiciary

One court, one case, two opposing decisions. What is rare in a state governed by the rule of law happened at the Court of Appeal of Montenegro, specifically in the case of Special Prosecutor Lidija Mitrović.

In May 2023, the Special State Prosecutor’s Office charged Special Prosecutor Mitrović with abuse of office, alleging that she had dismissed criminal complaints against three individuals suspected of tax evasion. As she stated in her testimony, Mitrović decided to abandon criminal prosecution after the suspects, following a formal warning, paid their outstanding tax obligations to the state.

The road to (in)justice

Everything that followed unfolded at a speed unfamiliar to the Montenegrin judiciary. Just six months after the indictment, on November 2nd of 2023, the High Court in Podgorica sentenced Special Prosecutor Mitrović to seven months in prison.

Appeals were filed against the judgment by Mitrović’s defense counsel, attorney Zoran Piperović, the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, and by Lidija Mitrović herself. She argued that the High Court had committed serious violations of criminal procedure, incorrectly established the facts, and that the prison sentence violated the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

On April 18th of 2024, a panel of the Court of Appeal composed of judges Vesna Moštrokol, Srđan Vujović and Dragoje Jović, overturned the High Court’s judgment.

Two decisions by the same court

- The first-instance court clearly committed a serious violation of the provisions of criminal procedure under points 8 and 9 of paragraph 1 of Article 386 of the Criminal Procedure Code… Due to these serious violations, it was necessary to overturn the first-instance judgment and return the case for retrial - the Court of Appeal stated, among other things, in its reasoning.

The decision of the Court of Appeal did not deter the judges of the High Court. Evidently, there was a particular interest in ensuring that Special Prosecutor Mitrović received „special treatment“. The High Court acted swiftly once again: in December 2024, it again sentenced Mitrović to seven months in prison for abuse of office.

Once again, appeals were filed with the Court of Appeal. Once again, a panel of the Court of Appeal convened, this time in a different composition: Presiding Judge Predrag Tabaš, with judges Zorica Milanović and Vesna Moštrokol as members.

A different panel resulted in a different decision. By a judgment dated May 6th of 2025, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s ruling, rendering it final and enforceable.

- The appeals filed by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, the defendant Lidija Mitrović, and the defendant’s counsel are dismissed as unfounded, and the judgment of the High Court in Podgorica, Special Department Ks.br. 26/24 of 23 December 2024, is upheld - the operative part of the Court of Appeal’s judgment states.

Constitutional appeal

That politics lies behind everything is what the dismissed prosecutor Mitrović claims in her constitutional appeal submitted to the Constitutional Court. In the document dated June 27th of 2025, citing the Constitution of Montenegro and the European Convention on Human Rights, she requests the adoption of an interim measure, namely - the suspension of the execution of the prison sentence.

The request is primarily based on alleged violations of the right to a fair trial, the right to an effective legal remedy, the right to work, and the presumption of innocence.

In her submission, Mitrović states that the proceedings against her and the High Court’s judgment were motivated by a single goal - to remove her from the position of special prosecutor, as she emphasized in her filing from July of this year.

The role of Vladimir Novović

The story of political influence on the position of Special Prosecutor Lidija Mitrović is not new. On the contrary, information available to Television E indicates that the rulings of the High Court and the Court of Appeal represent only the final phase of a carefully planned, politically motivated persecution.

Previously, the central role in the political elimination of Lidija Mitrović was played by Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović. In an effort to protect at all costs a political official of the Europe Now Movement - then Mayor of Podgorica - Novović issued two binding instructions to Special Prosecutor Lidija Mitrović. On both occasions, he ordered that Mitrović must not prosecute Olivera Injac, an official of the Europe Now Movement.

The first binding instruction - aimed at preventing the filing of an indictment proposal against Olivera Injac based on complaints submitted by attorney Mihailo Volkov for abuse of office and illegal employment - was issued in December 2022. The second followed in April 2023, just one day before Injac was elected Mayor of Podgorica.

The Chief Special Prosecutor ordered the acting prosecutor Lidija Mitrović to withdraw an indictment that had already been filed and officially registered with the prosecution’s registry.

Two binding instructions?!

The day after the indictment was „submitted“ to the registry of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office - while Prosecutor Mitrović was out of the office - all documents and case files disappeared, together with the binders.

In the same „Injac case“, Special Prosecutor Novović issued binding instructions twice, an unprecedented occurrence since the establishment of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office in 2015.

In addition to the extraordinary and evidently politically motivated actions of Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović, the fact that Lidija Mitrović is under special treatment by state institutions is further demonstrated by the months-long silence of the Constitutional Court.

Although Mitrović submitted her constitutional appeal as early as July 28th - together with a request for an interim measure - there has been no decision by the Constitutional Court to date, nor even a session held on the matter.

The „silence“ of the Constitutional Court

Prominent Montenegrin attorney Veselin Radulović assesses that differing decisions of the Court of Appeal do not necessarily justify a conclusion that the proceedings were politically motivated.

However, he emphasizes that the lack of response from the Constitutional Court is concerning and sends a negative message to citizens.

- We have seen that in this case, former Special State Prosecutor Lidija Mitrović submitted a constitutional appeal with a request to suspend the execution of the criminal judgment back in late July. And there is still no decision. These are cases in which the Constitutional Court should act as a matter of priority. When a timely response is absent, it certainly does not contribute to trust in the work of the Constitutional Court, nor does it enhance legal certainty for the citizens of Montenegro - Radulović told Television E.

Our media outlets received no response from the Constitutional Court, leaving it unclear when or whether the Constitutional Court panel will consider Lidija Mitrović’s constitutional appeal.

It would be useful if legal experts could, in the meantime, clarify the background of the Lidija Mitrović case. More precisely, to explain one paradox: how a special prosecutor, whose superior - the Chief Special Prosecutor - twice prohibited her from prosecutorial action, was years later sentenced to prison for having independently and lawfully decided to discontinue criminal prosecution, acting within her statutory powers.