The State Special Prosecutor in Montenegro confirmed the arrest of former Montenegrin Police director Veselin Veljovi\u0107 on Monday.<\/p>\n
He is charged with \u201ccriminal acts of creating a criminal organization, abuse of official duty and contraband\u201d.<\/p>\n
Three other persons face the same charges.<\/p>\n
A statement from the Prosecutor says that police officers have conducted raids in the houses and other objects owned by the arrested persons.<\/p>\n
\u201cTestimonies against them have been gathered in collaboration with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation \u2013 Europol.\u201d<\/p>\n
The authorities in Montenegro warn that they will continue to conduct similar activities even in the days to come.<\/p>\n
Who is Veselin Veljovi\u0107?<\/strong><\/p>\n Veljovi\u0107 was the director of the Montenegrin Police from 2007-2011 and again from mid-2018 until the end of 2020.<\/p>\n In the period between his two mandates, he served as a councilor of the former President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovi\u0107, on security and defense issues, as well as in the Government of former Prime Minister Milo \u0110ukanovi\u0107, he served as secretary of the National Security Council from 2014.<\/p>\n From 2020 up until May 20, 2023, when there was a change in the governments of Montenegro, Veljovi\u0107 was a councilor of \u0110ukanovi\u0107 on security issues.<\/p>\n \u0110ukanovi\u0107 lost the presidential elections in April 2023.<\/p>\n Veljovi\u0107 has held other important functions in the Police of Montenegro, even before the state declared independence.<\/p>\n From 1995-2005, he served as a commander of the Special Anti-Terror Unit.<\/p>\n In the end of the \u201890s, during the political unrest between \u0110ukanovi\u0107, then Prime Minister of Montenegro, and former President Momir Bulatovi\u0107, who was faithful to the former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107, Veljovi\u0107 stopped an attempt of Bulatovi\u0107\u2019s supporters to invade the governmental building in January 1998.<\/p>\n Later, Veljovi\u0107 was connected to some economic affairs, in which the police took part.<\/p>\n He was arrested during September 2021 protests in Cetinje for assaulting an official, while opposing the ordination of Metropolitan Joanikije in the Serb Orthodox Church of the city.<\/p>\n Veljovi\u0107 was released two days after being kept in detention, and in May, the Supreme Court of Podgorica overruled the first instance ruling of releasing him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The State Special Prosecutor in Montenegro confirmed the arrest of former Montenegrin Police director Veselin Veljovi\u0107 on Monday. He is charged with \u201ccriminal acts of creating a criminal organization, abuse of official duty and contraband\u201d. Three other persons face the same charges. A statement from the Prosecutor says that police officers have conducted raids in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":57716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[250],"tags":[1040,759,1965,3550,3549,2493,243,151,460,3548],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n