Drakić ignored the expert's findings that the three photographs of Đukanović with watches were—brutal photomontages?!

“That is in its final phase, the evidence has been collected, and a decision can be expected in the near future.”

With those words, appearing on TV Adria on March 7, Dušan Drakić, acting director of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, confidently announced a decision regarding the now well-known story about the fabulously expensive watches allegedly owned by Milo Đukanović.

CREATING AN AFFAIR

The so-called Watch Affair was conceived at the beginning of 2019 by businessman Duško Knežević, one of the initiators of the political movement “Resist” (Odupri se), aimed at compromising the ruling DPS party and Milo Đukanović himself. Following Knežević’s idea, on April 3, 2019, „Dan“ published an article with a sensationalist headline - “Milo did not declare watches worth 1.5 million.”

The article was accompanied by three photos of Milo Đukanović, each showing him wearing a different watch.

It was a coordinated campaign. Just six days later, on April 9, the NGO MANS requested the Agency for Prevention of Corruption to initiate proceedings, claiming that the then-President of Montenegro, Đukanović, violated the Law on Prevention of Corruption.

In the letter signed by Dejan Milovac, the main evidence claiming that Đukanović did not declare assets are - three photos provided by Duško Knežević and published by „Dan“. Interestingly, without any subsequent verification of the authenticity of the photos, MANS immediately concluded, even before the Agency did, that the President of Montenegro hid assets worth - 1,442,752€.

The methodology used to estimate the value of the watches is unknown, and even less information - whether Đukanović owns the questionable watches at all?

DRAKIĆ'S "OBSERVATION"

It turns out that these facts were not established by the Agency for Prevention of Corruption not in 2019, nor up to the present day, April 2025, nearly six years later. However, the current head of the APC, Dušan Drakić, claims to know that the value of such watches increases year by year.

The information I’m not allowed to share and cannot disclose about this case, but the value of that kind of watches collector’s watches increases every year, year after year, how much that value has increased - is the question. We have examples, which can be found in the media, where that value has doubled or even tripled over seven or eight years - Drakić estimated, despite being a political scientist by profession.

Although he frequently speaks to the media about Milo Đukanović’s watches, the head of APC tries very hard to - withhold one crucial piece of information.

In a letter to the then-director of APC, Jelena Perović, President Đukanović denied ever owning the two most expensive watches. As for the third one, which has an average value exceeding 20,000$ he stated that it was a gift from a close person during the 1990s.

ĐUKANOVIC'S TESTIMONY

Since there was neither a conflict of interest law nor the Agency for Prevention of Corruption at the time, Đukanović emphasized in the letter that this is why he did not declare the watch.

The claims about fabulously expensive watches that I allegedly own are an expression of cheap and malicious sensationalism, driven by the need to scandalize the President of Montenegro for petty and politically motivated reasons, such claims are devoid of both factual and legal basis. The watches mentioned in MANS’s initiative, the „Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon“ and „Ulysse Nardin Classic Skeleton Tourbillon“ - I have never owned, while the „Breguet Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar 3795 pr/1e/9v6“ has been in my possession since the 1990s - Đukanović stated in his letter to the APC director.

WHEN APC SELECTS DATA

This statement was either not seen - or perhaps ignored – by the head of APC. Or maybe, as a public official appointed by the post-August majority, and simply didn’t want to listen to Milo Đukanović.

But why did Dušan Drakić refuse to read the report by Balša Savić, a court expert in digital evidence?

On February 17, 2025, expert Savić determined and forensically confirmed that the photos of the two most expensive watches - were photomontages. Possibly a skilled - but brutal and malicious fabrication - intended by the now-detained businessman Knežević - to seriously discredit Đukanović.

And that amid the “Resist” (Odupri se) protests, which Knežević, from exile in London, actively supported with logistics. It is evident that Knežević followed the principle that the end — overthrowing Đukanović justifies any means - even planting false evidence.

EVIDENCE FROM PHOTOSHOP

“Additional visual analysis confirmed that the image is a fabricated photograph, created by merging two separate pictures. Elements, including the watch and text, were added or combined afterward to produce a specific visual message. In conclusion, metadata indicates that the image was likely a frame taken from a video, with multiple saved versions in Adobe Premiere Pro CC2019, moreover, visual elements confirm that the image is edited, that is, two separate photographs were merged to create a particular effect…”

This is part of the findings from expert Savić, who analyzed the photo of the watch allegedly worth around 1.3 million€. It turned out to be a setup!

Court expert Savić also precisely determined that the second photo, on which Đukanović supposedly has a watch worth 185,858$, was yet another setup by Knežević.

Metadata analysis and visual elements show that the photo was created by merging two separate images. The editing history data indicates that the picture was saved and modified multiple times, which is evident from the XMP metadata—reads the expert report submitted by Savić to the APC.

GENERAL ASSESSMENTS

If, in addition to these expert analyses and obvious evidence of fabricatedphotographs, the findings of Marija Đukić, a court expert in economics, are added, then Dušan Drakić's behavior becomes even more strange.

Namely, Đukić who the APC hired to assess the value of the specific watches, stated in her February report this year that, and to - quote: “the analysis shows the trends of brands and watch models and cannot be considered an appraisal of the value of a specific watch.”

Despite all, the acting director of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, Dušan Drakić, in a letter to Milo Đukanović dated February 28 of this year demanded - based entirely on a request from MANS that is, believe it or not, six years old - that the former president provide a written explanation as to why he did not declare ownership of three expensive watches.

Even though neither Drakić nor MANS had previously proven that Milo Đukanović possessed the watches, two of which he had officially stated he never owned.

How can such bias be interpreted if not - as politically motivated targeting of the former President of Montenegro?

(MIS)USES

And that with the use - or more precisely: the abuse of official position by the head of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption. The question is, however, whether the Special State Prosecutor’s Office will react at all after the publication of all this information pointing to illegal activities at the head of the APC.

By the way, neither the Special State Prosecutor’s Office nor any other prosecution office reacted when Television E and Portal ETV revealed that the Agency for Prevention of Corruption had falsified its own decision in the case of the revolving credit card used by Milo Đukanović at Atlas Bank. Altering an official document is illegal and a criminal offense.

However, since February of this year, the Montenegrin prosecution remained - silent. It may react similarly this time. Precisely - it will not react.