Pavićević: Šaranović and Šćepanović are organizers of a criminal group, with seven police officials as members

 Milovan Pavićević, former head of the Podgorica Security Center, has filed a criminal complaint with the Special State Prosecutor’s Office against Minister of the Interior Danilo Šaranović, Director of the Police Directorate Lazar Šćepanović, former head of the Regional Security Center “Centar” Goran Jokić, and five other police officers.

According to the allegations in the complaint, Pavićević accuses them of forming an organized criminal group that abused their official positions in order to unlawfully initiate disciplinary proceedings against him and remove him from police service.

LIST OF SUSPECTS

In addition to Šaranović, Šćepanović and Jokić, the complaint also includes former President of the Commission for Reviewing Security Impediments Darko Vujović, commission members Ljiljana Zejak, Đorđije Peković and Dejan Filipović, disciplinary prosecutor Milena Pajović, President of the Disciplinary Commission of the Ministry of Interior Ljiljana Damjanović, Secretary of the Disciplinary Commission Marija Kilibarda and several currently unidentified police officers.

Pavićević emphasizes that the activities of the criminal organization are based on the abuse of the police and internal affairs system, namely the organizational, personnel and technical capacities of the Police Directorate and the Ministry of the Interior.

Based on details from the 30-page complaint, which Pavićević’s defense attorney Mihailo Volkov submitted to Portal ETV and Television E, the former head of the Podgorica Security Center described in detail the roles and tasks of individuals who, in his view, accepted membership in the criminal group allegedly formed by Danilo Šaranović.

ROLES AND TASKS

- The organizer of the criminal organization, Danilo Šaranović, and the second-suspected member of the criminal organization, Lazar Šćepanović, with the aim of acquiring political and functional power, have continuously exerted influence over political authority in Montenegro through direct influence on political processes via the political party Democratic Montenegro, which is a constituent of the current government, while the organizer of this criminal organization is also a member of the presidency of that political entity - among other things, states the complaint submitted by Milovan Pavićević on December 22.

Jokić, Vuković, Zejak, Peković and Filipović are suspected of forming a criminal organization, abuse of office, and falsification of official documents. Pajović is charged with forming a criminal organization and abuse of office, while Damjanović, in addition to those two criminal offenses, is also suspected of incitement to falsify official documents. Kilibarda is suspected of committing the criminal offenses of forming a criminal organization and falsifying official documents.

The goal of the criminal organization allegedly formed by Danilo Šaranović, according to the complaint, was to acquire political power and gain through the abuse of institutions headed by him and members of the group.

- The activities of the criminal organization are based on the abuse of the police and internal affairs system, namely the organizational, personnel and technical capacities of the Police Directorate and the Ministry of the Interior… Šaranović and Šćepanović exert influence over processes by using the political party Democratic Montenegro - the complaint states.

According to Pavićević’s allegations, the influence of Šaranović and others extended to the legislative and executive branches, as well as the media. Since December 2023, as stated in the complaint, the criminal organization spread falsehoods and disinformation about him in order to isolate him from the police system. He emphasizes that the motive was to criminalize and discredit him, and that all actions were aimed at persecution and mobbing, as well as creating a negative public perception of him.

A TRIO BEHIND UNLAWFUL DECISIONS

Pavićević points out that Šaranović allegedly influenced the course of security checks, disciplinary proceedings, and the process of temporary suspension from work, which involved exceeding statutory deadlines.

- The organizer carried out criminal activities in a targeted manner against previously selected police officers, while selectively bypassing Ministry of Interior and Police Directorate officials who became members of this criminal organization, as well as other police officers he could unlawfully influence. He used his authority as head of the institution and, in unlawful disciplinary and suspension proceedings, demanded actions that should not have been carried out under the law - the complaint states.

According to Pavićević, following unlawful decisions by Šćepanović and Jokić regarding security checks, Šaranović issued a falsified decision in July 2025 and removed him from duty - that is, suspended him pending the completion of disciplinary proceedings. The former head of the Podgorica Security Center also believes that the proceedings have been unjustifiably delayed by decisions of individuals who are, as reasonably suspected, part of an organized criminal group.

The Minister of the Interior knew that the National Security Agency had taken the position that there was no security impediment concerning Pavićević, as stated in the Commission’s 2024 report. Despite this, Šaranović signed and stamped a decision stating the opposite of the NSA’s opinion that „Pavićević was found to have security impediments based on checks conducted in accordance with the law“.

The abuses did not end there. As Pavićević states in the complaint, members of the criminal organization presented this in the media as police vetting and a fight against crime within their own ranks, even though the legal system of Montenegro does not recognize the institution of vetting.

- Evidence of the continuous unlawful influence of suspected members of the criminal organization on the media includes, among other things, the article in Vijesti titled „Pavićević and Knežević stripped of their badges“, published on July 12, 2025, just one day after the suspect Goran Jokić carried out an unlawful suspension and served me with a falsified decision on July 11 - Pavićević points out.

Over several pages, the roles of Šćepanović, Jokić, and other suspects are described who, according to Pavićević, committed numerous abuses.

Šćepanović, according to the complaint, abused the intelligence project „Badge“, as data were allegedly fictitiously collected on his orders, which involved falsification of information. All of this was conceived and created between December 2023 and July 2024. On Šćepanović’s orders, as-yet unidentified individuals allegedly entered false data via the protected application „Infostream V2“.

PAVIĆEVIĆ’S UNLAWFUL REMOVAL FROM DUTY

Pavićević also explained the sequence of unlawful actions. The measure of temporary suspension from work was initiated by Šćepanović toward Jokić, which, as stated, involved falsification of official documents or police records. Pavićević states that he has been without assignment since April 9, 2021, and that Jokić took his position. Given that Pavićević had not been engaged since then, Jokić knew that his superior officer was the Director of the Police Directorate and that he himself did not have the authority of an immediate supervisor.

- Jokić accepted to act upon Šćepanović’s unlawful orders and to falsify official documents. Jokić entered false information stating that by coming to the Podgorica Security Department I was harming the reputation and interests of the police and the Ministry, and that my presence interfered with disciplinary proceedings, even though he knew that I had not come to work since April 9, 2021 - Pavićević emphasizes.

He believes that Darko Vujović, Ljiljana Zejak, Đorđije Peković, Dejan Filipović, Milena Pajović, Ljiljana Damjanović and Marija Kilibarda were also part of the criminal organization.

The complaint provides a detailed explanation of their roles in the proceedings, which, according to Pavićević, were unlawful.