The US State Department has included two former officials from Montenegro on the list of sanctions.
They are allegedly involved in high corruption and have helped drug trafficking operations.
According to the announcement, sanctioned officials are former Budva leader and MP Milo Bozovic, and former President of the Supreme Court of Montenegro, Vesna Medenica.
They are prohibited from entering the United States.
According to Washington, Bozovic has abused his public positions to support organized crime and international drug trafficking operations.
Meanwhile, Medenica, according to the DASH, has abused its public position to support a criminal organization of smuggling by issuing judicial information, mediating judicial decisions and accepting bribes to influence court decisions in exchange for cash and immovable property.
“This decision reaffirms the US’s commitment to combating drug trafficking and transnational criminal organizations as well as corruption that threatens US national security interests in the Western Balkans and beyond”said in the notice.
Vesna Medenica has been one of the most influential figures of the Judicial System in Montenegro over the past two decades. She has served for 17 years in court functions and has been elected three times the President of the Supreme Court, though the Montenegrin Constitution only allows only two terms. Prior to this task, she also held the position of Chief State Prosecutor.
In April 2022 she was arrested after the publication of Europol transcripts, which contained intercepted conversations from the Sky application between her son, Milos Medenica and her bodyguard, police officer Darko Llallovic, discussing drug smuggling and tobacco deals. The transcripts showed that Medenica was aware of criminal activities and that he was ready to protect them.
The Special Prosecution Office of Montenegro accuses Medenican of using its position in the period 2019–2021, intervened in resolving several court cases in favor of certain companies, accepting bribes. She is also accused of pressuring judges to make illegal decisions.
According to the indictment filed in October 2022, her son Milos is accused, among other things, of establishing a criminal organization in 2019 in order to smoke tobacco and the exercise of unlawful impact on justice. In her trial before the Supreme Court in Podgorica, Medenica has denied all the charges, calling them political revenge.
It has long been regarded as a key figure in the judicial system under the influence of the then power of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) of Milo Gjukanovic. Her election at the head of the Supreme Court has often been criticized by the local and international community for the rule of law and corruption problems.
On the other hand, Milo Bozovic, a former mayor of Budva, was arrested in April 2023 on suspicion of establishing a criminal organization and the production and illegal trafficking of narcotics. Montenegro’s Special Prosecution Office has filed an indictment against him for the creation of the criminal organization and cocaine smuggling
In February this year, the new chairman of Budva was elected Nikola Jovanovic, ending Bozovic’s mandate, who had run the municipality from prison for 22 months – executing salaries, making investment decisions and public tenders. Bozovic comes from the ranks of a party of the former pro-author, the Democratic Front, led by the current Speaker of Parliament, Andrija Mandic.
