Montenegrins Listed as War Suspects in Files Sent from Hague

Montenegrin Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnic (centre) at a press conference in Podgorica. Photo: PR Centar.

"It is based on suspicion that they were committed by Montenegrin citizens," said special prosecutor Sanja Jovicevic.

"The analysis of the documentation submitted is in progress so the case is in the pre-investigation phase. It is not possible to disclose more information and data in order to protect the interests of the procedure," Jovicevic added.

On December 14, the chief prosecutor at the UN's International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, Serge Brammertz, said that files relating to more than 15 suspects who can now be investigated for serious crimes, including sexual violence, had been handed over to Montenegro.

Addressing a UN Security Council meeting, Brammertz called on Montenegrin authorities to "clearly demonstrate their commitment to full accountability, particularly with respect to senior- and mid-level suspects who have enjoyed safe haven and impunity up to now".

He said that files have also been handed over to Croatia and Serbia.

According to the Special State Prosecutor's Office, no new war crimes investigations were initiated in 2020.

Since Montenegro became independent in 2006, it has held just eight trials for war crimes committed in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. But only the lowest-level perpetrators have been tried.

Last year saw the first trial verdict since 2016, as former Yugoslav Army soldier Vlado Zmajevic was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the murder of four ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo in 1999.

Montenegro's Court of Appeal in December 2019 upheld the verdict convicting Zmajevic of killing the civilians in the village of Zegra near Gjilan...