US blacklists and sanctions two former Montenegrin officials for supporting criminal organizations

The US State Department announced that it has added former officials from Montenegro to the sanctions list because they are suspected of being involved in high-level corruption and aiding drug trafficking operations.

According to the announcement, the sanctioned officials are the former mayor of Budva and MP Milo Bozovic, and the former president of the Supreme Court of Montenegro, Vesna Medenica.

They are banned from entering the United States.

According to Washington, Bozovic abused his public positions to support organized crime and international drug trafficking operations.

Meanwhile, Medenica, according to the State Department, abused her public position to support a criminal smuggling organization by leaking judicial information, mediating judicial decisions, and accepting bribes to influence judicial decisions in exchange for cash and real estate.

"This decision reaffirms the US commitment to combating drug trafficking and transnational criminal organizations, as well as corruption that threaten US national security interests in the Western Balkans and beyond," the statement said.

What is known about them?

Vesna Medenica has been one of the most influential figures in the Montenegrin judicial system over the past two decades. She has served 17 years in judicial office and has been elected three times as President of the Supreme Court, although the Montenegrin Constitution only allows for two terms. Prior to this position, she also held the position of Chief State Prosecutor.

In April 2022, she was arrested after the publication of Europol transcripts containing intercepted conversations from the Sky app between her son, Miloš Medenica, and her bodyguard, police officer Darko Llallović, discussing deals for drug and tobacco smuggling. The transcripts showed that Medenica was aware of the criminal activities and was willing to protect them.

The Special Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro accuses Medenica of having, in the period 2019–2021, taken advantage of her position to interfere in the resolution of several court cases in favor of certain companies, accepting bribes. She is also accused of exerting pressure on judges to make illegal decisions.

According to the indictment filed in October 2022, her son Miloš is accused, among other things, of having established a criminal organization in 2019 for the purpose of smuggling tobacco and exercising illegal influence over justice. In her trial before the Supreme Court in Podgorica, Medenica denied all charges, calling them political vendettas.

She has long been considered a key figure in the judiciary under the influence of Milo Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) government. Her appointment to the Supreme Court has been widely criticized by the local and international community for rule of law and corruption issues.

On the other hand, Milo Bozovic, former mayor of Budva, was arrested in April 2023 on suspicion of creating a criminal organization and illegal production and trafficking of narcotics. The Special Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro has filed an indictment against him for creating a criminal organization and smuggling cocaine.

In February this year, Nikola Jovanovic was elected as the new mayor of Budva, ending the mandate of Bozovic, who for 22 months had run the municipality from prison – executing salaries, making decisions on investments and public tenders. Bozovic comes from the ranks of a party in the former pro-Russian alliance, the Democratic Front, led by the current speaker of parliament, Andrija Mandic. /REL