Marković conducted an extraordinary review and determined that Novović acted in accordance with the law

The Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković assessed as lawful the actions of Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović, under whose order the complete case files against former Minister of Defense and current Ambassador of Montenegro to Belgium, Olivera Injac, were seized on November 24, 2022 from their, now fugitive, colleague Lidija Mitrović.

This follows from the responses that the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office sent yesterday to the Adria Portal.

The Adria Portal asked the prosecution office headed by Marković whether it would examine the official note in which fugitive prosecutor Mitrović stated that prosecutor Jovan Vukotić, acting on Novović’s orders, seized the case files against Olivera Injac from her office during her absence and without her knowledge.

The Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office was also asked whether it would review the conduct of prosecutors Vukotić and Novović in the entire case, following Mitrović’s accusation that the Chief Special Prosecutor had protected former minister Injac from criminal prosecution.

- In relation to the allegations made by former special prosecutor Lidija Mitrović, the Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković conducted an extraordinary review and requested a statement from the Chief Special Prosecutor. After examining the submitted statement and the mandatory instructions, the Supreme State Prosecutor found that the actions of the Chief Special Prosecutor were proper and lawful - the response from the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office states.

Prosecutor Marković, they told the Adria Portal yesterday, informed the members of the Prosecutorial Council about the matter the day before.

On April 17, Adria Portal published the official note drafted by prosecutor Mitrović after, as she claims, the case files against Injac were taken from her office.

Mitrović stated in the note that this happened on the same day she had submitted the indictment against the former minister to the registry of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, so it could be forwarded to the High Court in Podgorica.

What did Mitrović charge Injac with?

In the indictment, which Adria Portal had access to, prosecutor Mitrović charged Injac with the continued criminal offense of abuse of office.

The indictment states that from December 2020 to February 2021, in her capacity as Minister of Defense, Injac unlawfully used her official position in order to obtain a benefit for retired Warrant Officer of the Armed Forces of Montenegro Miodrag Jokanović.

She allegedly concluded a service contract with Jokanović for tasks which, according to regulations and the Rulebook on the Internal Organization of the Ministry of Defense, fall within the core activities of the ministry and are to be filled through a public vacancy announcement, not through a service contract.

According to the indictment, the contract was valid from December 21, 2020 to March 21, 2021, with a monthly compensation of 300 euros. However, the indictment states that the contract was mutually terminated on January 31, 2021, but this was allegedly not recorded in the ministry’s protocols.

Despite this, Mitrović claims that on January 30 and February 26, 2021, Injac signed requests to the State Treasury for the payment of compensation to Jokanović, thereby „obtaining unlawful financial gain of 480 euros per month“ for him.

Prosecutor Mitrović also accused Injac of, contrary to the Law on Civil Servants, which prohibits the employment of pensioners, as well as the laws on the army and military intelligence affairs, issuing decisions by which Jokanović, a recipient of an old-age pension and former member of the Armed Forces of Montenegro, was employed for an indefinite period in the Intelligence and Security Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.

Although, according to Mitrović, he did not meet the legal requirements for deployment to a mission, nor was he prepared and trained in accordance with the standards of the international organization under whose mandate the mission was conducted, Jokanović was deployed to the international KFOR mission in Kosovo for a duration of one year, with the right to a daily allowance of 70 euros and other benefits.

The indictment against Injac states that Jokanović thereby obtained unlawful financial gain in the amount of 29.304 euros, to the detriment of the Ministry of Defense.

During the investigation, Injac denied all allegations.

From Injac, through Vardar, Klap and Bora, to escapement

Several months after, as she claims in her official note, the Injac case was taken from her, an investigation was launched against Mitrović on suspicion that she had abused her official position in another case – „Vardar-Klap-Bora“.

The investigation ended with the filing of an indictment against Mitrović, signed by her colleague Miloš Šoškić, and the subsequent court proceedings concluded with a conviction - on November 2, 2023, Mitrović was sentenced to seven months in prison for abuse of office.

She avoided reporting to Spuž prison in January of this year by fleeing, after which an international Interpol arrest warrant was issued for her.

She addressed the public from hiding, on February 8, in a letter in which she held Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović responsible for what she described as her persecution and suffering, accusing him of protecting former minister Olivera Injac from criminal prosecution.

Novović denied all of this, countering with accusations that, in handling the case against Injac, Mitrović had committed „numerous violations of the Law on the State Prosecutor’s Office, the Criminal Procedure Code, the Rulebook on the Internal Operations of the State Prosecutor’s Office, and the Annual Work Schedule“. For this reason, he claims, he issued her two written mandatory instructions.

- Mitrović did not complete work on the criminal case before being suspended from duty due to the initiation of criminal proceedings against her by decision of the Prosecutorial Council - the Special State Prosecutor’s Office stated at the beginning of the month.

The Prosecutorial Council suspended Mitrović on June 23, 2023. Two years later, on June 5, 2025, she was dismissed from office.

What happened in the meantime with the case against Injac has not been disclosed.