Svetozar Marović to become a free man on October 10
Former Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) official Svetozar Marović will become a free man in less than two and a half months and will be able to travel freely from Belgrade to Montenegro.
On October 10, the statute of limitations on the three-year-and-nine-month prison sentence imposed on Marović by the High Court in Podgorica in September 2016 will expire, making the sentence unenforceable.
Despite numerous extradition requests sent by Montenegro's Ministry of Justice to its counterparts in Belgrade, the Serbian authorities ignored those appeals. Thanks to the protection afforded by the Serbian authorities, Marović remained beyond the reach of Montenegrin law enforcement and was able to stay in Serbia long enough for the one-year prison sentence imposed in lieu of a €1.1 million fine, which he never paid, to become time-barred. The statute of limitations on that sentence expired in June 2021. Five years later, the three-year-and-nine-month prison sentence is also set to expire.
Marović was arrested in December 2015 and released on May 17 of the following year after spending six months in pre-trial detention.
In 2016, he signed two plea agreements with the Special State Prosecutor's Office, admitting to organizing a criminal group. He pleaded guilty and agreed to serve a prison sentence of three years and nine months, pay the state €1.1 million, and donate an additional €100,000 to humanitarian causes.
The two plea agreements covered eight corruption cases in the coastal town of Budva, involving the rigging of public contracts in favor of specific companies.
In June 2025, as reported by N1, Marović was filmed walking in Belgrade's Vračar municipality.
While Zoran Pažin served as Minister of Justice, and later under the current minister, Bojan Božović, Montenegro's Ministry of Justice repeatedly sought Marović's extradition. In May 2025, the Ministry sent another formal reminder to Serbia's Ministry of Justice, referring to its previous official requests, but once again received no response.
Svetozar Marović was not the only member of his family to find refuge in Belgrade. His son, Miloš Marović, was also wanted by the Montenegrin authorities to serve a one-year prison sentence for financial misconduct in one of the Budva-related cases.
Following the expiration of the statute of limitations, Interpol's Podgorica office withdrew the international arrest warrant issued for Miloš Marović.