Montenegro Sacks Police Director Over Officers’ Crime Ties

Montenegrin Special State Prosecutor Vladimir Novovic (L), Police Director Zoran Brdjanin (M) and Special Police Department Predrag Sukovic (R) in Podgorica. Photo: Government of Montenegro

The government appointed two new interim police directors, Nikola Terzic and Predrag Sukovic, who will be in charge of contact with the European police agency Europol.

Currently, Terzic is head of police in the coastal town of Budva while Sukovic is head of the Special Police Department in charge of cooperation with Special State Prosecution.

On March 22, the police force's assistant director, Dejan Knezevic, was arrested on the orders of the Special State Prosecutor's Office for allegedly setting up a criminal organization.

Outgoing Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic said the security sector should be purged of all personnel connected to organized criminal groups regardless of their rank.

"We cannot allow police to be led by management that has lost credibility or is not trusted by the Special State Prosecution or the National Security Agency. I do not question Brdjanin's professional capacity but, as police director, he had to know about criminals within his units," Abazovic said at the government session.

Interior Minister Filip Adzic said the current police management lost the trust of international partners. "This is the first step in large-scale reforms in police. We need trusted people in police units," Adzic said.

On March 27, Brdjanin rejected Interior Minister Adzic's request to resign, insisting that he didn't violate any law.

According to the Law on Internal Affairs, the Interior Ministry can propose to the government that it sacks the police director if violations have been committed. The Police Director can also be...