Head of Montenegro’s Anti-Corruption Agency Arrested

April 18, 2024— In a significant development, the director of Montenegro’s Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, Jelena Perovic, has been arrested. This action comes as part of a series of initiatives undertaken by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office.

The Arrest

Jelena Perovic was apprehended at her workplace by members of the Special Police. The exact reasons for her arrest have not yet been officially disclosed by the Prosecutor’s Office. However, in late March, the office had already initiated an investigation into allegedly inappropriate spending of money. Inspectors from the Ministry of Finance had identified irregularities in the agency’s operations, leading to suspicions against Perovic.

Allegations and Previous Scrutiny

The case against Jelena Perovic centers around her claiming overtime and variables in 2023, resulting in her receiving nearly 13,500 euros. This action was deemed contrary to the Law on Salaries of Employees in the Public Sector. Additionally, an NGO, the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector, had previously filed a criminal complaint against her, alleging abuse of official position. The complaint specifically accused Perovic of assigning herself and her assistant two official cars owned by the agency for their permanent use.

Perovic has consistently denied all accusations made against her in public. Despite claims by ruling parties that she was protecting high-ranking officials of the former ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), including its former leader, Milo Djukanovic, she maintained that there was no selectivity in the agency’s actions.

Additional Controversies

Apart from the recent arrest, Jelena Perovic had been under scrutiny for other matters. Messages exchanged between her and the former long-serving president of the Supreme Court, Vesna Medenica, were discovered. In these messages, Perovic sought advice on how to handle certain cases. Furthermore, in a communication from 2020, Perovic mentioned receiving a job offer. That same year, she was elected head of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption.

In November 2023, a lawyer named Nikola Angelovski filed a criminal complaint against Perovic, accusing her of leaking state officials’ personal data. According to Angelovski, she provided a Serbian software company, Prozone, with access to thousands of officials’ personal information.