When witnesses of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office testify in favor of the accused
How politically motivated the indictment against Aleksandar Mijajlović and the alleged criminal organization is, and how there was an intention to target the media, is shown by the fact that the trio of special prosecutors published extracts from the bank accounts of all six media outlets across all banks - even though these were completely lawful, contract-based transactions. At the same time, statements by workers of Bemax and Genex demonstrate the lack of basis for the indictment regarding unlawful influence on voters, as all of them said that no one forced them to vote and that almost all participated in religious processions without any problems
A politically motivated indictment - this is what the analysis of the charges against Aleksandar Mijajlović and members of his alleged criminal organization, in which the Special State Prosecutor’s Office targeted editors of six media outlets, shows - as if they were members of some socially dangerous organization.
It is difficult to explain otherwise the information that the prosecutorial trio - Miroslav Turković, Jovan Vukotić and Ivana Petrušić-Vukašević - without hesitation and without grounds in the indictment, published bank account statements of six media outlets.
THE PROSECUTION'S SELECTION OF BANK ACCOUNTS
Along with payments from Monte Media FZCO, Mijajlović’s media buying company, bank account statements were published for Nova Pobjeda, Television E, Standard Media, Portal Analitika, Antena M, and M portal.
- In the period from January 3, 2018 to January 16, 2026, deposits totaling €26,531,753.86 were made to this account, while €26,544,781.63 were paid out. It also follows that payments from the private entity „MONTE MEDIA FZCO“ LLC amounted to a total of €48,400.00 during the period from 2024 to 2025, as well as additional payments of €25,547.17 in the period from 2018 to January 16, 2026 - the indictment of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office states.
Along with this statement, reports on transactions in all Montenegrin banks where Pobjeda holds accounts were published in the indictment. The same applies to all other targeted media outlets - Television E, Antena M, Standard, Portal Analitika -providing detailed reports on income and expenditures from all accounts.
However, not for all media - only for the targeted six. There are no reports on the bank accounts of Vijesti or Portal Libertas, even though testimonies from Vijesti’s executive director Marijana Kadić and Portal Libertas owner Olivera Lakić are included in the indictment.
To make matters even stranger: the special prosecutors provide an overview of media revenues and expenditures for the period from January 3, 2018 to January 16, 2026. That is, the SSPO reviewed accounts for a period of eight years.
But the alleged criminal organization led by Aleksandar Mijajlović was formed in 2020 and lasted until February 2024.
So why does the indictment present an eight-year overview of revenues? It is difficult to find an investigative reason. The only logical explanation is that the special prosecutors wanted to provide financial data to „loyal“ and tabloid media - for attacks on critical media.
„THE ELECTORAL WILL OF CITIZENS“ AND OTHER PROSECUTORIAL CLAIMS
Further analysis of the indictment points to political bias in its construction, also in relation to Democratic Party of Socialists official Predrag Bošković. The indictment accuses Mijajlović and his criminal organization of acting in coordination with DPS politicians, attempting to influence the electoral will of citizens.
This was allegedly done through intimidation of employees in the companies Bemax and Genex and forcing them to vote for the Democratic Party of Socialists and other pro-sovereignty parties, as defined in the indictment dated April 1.
- The accused Aleksandar Mijajlović demonstrated a clear intention and determination, through the activities of a criminal organization, to influence the exercise of voting rights of citizens of Montenegro and, through decisions on employment rights and obligations of persons employed in „Bemax“ LLC Podgorica and „Genex“ LLC Podgorica, companies connected to the criminal organization, to unlawfully influence the exercise of voting rights of citizens of Montenegro - the indictment claims.
The indictment lists the names of individuals whom Mijajlović allegedly influenced through the management of Bemax and Genex not to appear in the elections of August 30, 2020, or to vote for the Democratic Party of Socialists.
DENIAL OF PRESSURE ALLEGATIONS BEFORE THE ELECTIONS
The prosecutorial trio questioned Danilo Šćekić, Željko Šćekić, Vladimir Maslovarić, Radisav Premović, Vukašin Maslovarić, employees of Genex in 2020, as well as Veljko Vuković, Milena Labudović and workers of Bemax.
Although these were expected to be witnesses confirming pressure by Mijajlović and the criminal organization on voters, this is not evident from the indictment. On the contrary, statements by Genex employees Vladimir Maslovarić and Radisav Premović indicate the opposite.
- At my workplace, I did not experience any pressure regarding my voting rights, no one forced or influenced me in deciding whom to vote for or whether to exercise my voting right in the parliamentary elections of August 2020 - Maslovarić stated, among other things, to the SSPO.
Another witness said similarly:
- I think I voted in the parliamentary elections in August 2020, but I am not sure. I am certain that no one influenced me in exercising or not exercising my voting rights - Premović said.
Out of nine listed employees of Genex and Bemax registered as voters in Berane, six voted in the parliamentary elections on August 30, 2020. All of them, according to testimony, were active participants in religious processions and all stated that no one from the leadership of Bemax or Genex denied them the right to vote according to their political beliefs.
POLITICAL MOTIVES OF THE PROSECUTORIAL TRIO
This fact reveals the political background of the prosecutors’ actions: their targets were only media outlets critical of the government, as well as their leaders.
It appears that the special prosecutors - when prosecuting media without evidence or indication -are intentionally acting on instructions from government politicians, such as Boris Bogdanović, head of the parliamentary group of the Democrats, who control the security sector.
- Articles that defend dirty police officers, officers, and non-commissioned officers are not written to be read, but to be cashed in. Because the Kavač and Škaljari clans pay certain individuals up to €8,000 for them. Not weekly, not monthly, not yearly, but per article - Bogdanović said passionately.
This disgraceful statement was made by MP Bogdanović in June last year, explicitly targeting journalists from Television E, M portal, and Portal Analitika, accusing them of being on the payroll of criminal clans.
Numerous relevant actors from the media and civil society sphere reacted to the statement, including the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro, the Montenegro Media Institute, and the Media Council for Self-Regulation.
However, the state prosecutor’s office did not react, apparently considering this to be freedom of speech.
LAWSUIT AND STATE SILENCE
- The statement does not constitute permissible criticism or a value judgment, but a deliberate and legally impermissible attack on the plaintiff’s reputation, carried out from a position of political power, in a public space, with wide accessibility - states, among other things, the lawsuit filed by the company „Portal Press“, publisher of Portal Analitika, submitted to the Basic Court in Podgorica in mid-August 2025.
Eight months later, there has been no response from the court. This silence speaks to how free media and party activists are treated in Montenegro.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the prosecutorial trio from the Special State Prosecutor’s Office continued the persecution of the six media outlets initially targeted by authoritarian government politicians.