The pre-trial chamber of the Higher Court in Podgorica has validated the indictment against Petar Lazović, an officer of the National Security Agency (ANB), for the kidnapping and torture of Goran Brajović. This occurred after Brajović was arrested in the summer of 2020 at the Montenegro-Bosnia and Herzegovina border while attempting to transport two Colombian citizens to Podgorica, according to Vijesti.

Brajović and the Colombian nationals, Aleksandar Costana Caso Jose and Caicedo Bandoy Juan Davido, were ultimately convicted of being part of a criminal organization involved in an unspecified series of serious crimes.

Brajović and Davido Kaisedo were each sentenced to two and a half years in prison, while Aleksandar Kostana received a three-year prison sentence.

As per an earlier report from Vijesti, recorded conversations among Petar Lazović, Radoje Zvicer, and former colleague Ljubo Milović via the Sky app suggested that the Colombians entered Montenegro to assassinate individuals connected to the “Grand” team—specifically, Zoran Lazović, who was then the assistant director of the Police Directorate for Combating Crime, or business owners Ranko Ubović and Aco Mijajlović from “Bemax.”

Sky Communications indicated that the Colombians were apprehended following a tip-off from Radoje Zvicer, who alerted authorities that “two butchers had entered the country.”

Lazović was detained on July 18, 2022, and in early 2023, an indictment was issued against him due to suspicions that, as an ANB officer temporarily assigned to the Police Service for Combating Organized Crime (SBPOK), he was collaborating with individuals involved in criminal activities.

The indictment also implicates fugitive police officer Ljubo Milović, Radoje Zvicer, Slobodan Kašćelan, Radoje Živković, Nikola Spasojević, Milan Vujotić, Duško Roganović, Radovan Mujović, Radovan Pantović, and Nikša Perović.

According to the indictment, this organized crime group was established in the latter half of 2020 and operated not only in Montenegro but also in South America, Africa, Europe, and Australia.

The defendants face multiple serious charges, including homicide, attempted murder, drug trafficking, weapon smuggling, and abuse of official capacity.

Everyone remembers me.

During the indictment review at the Higher Court in Podgorica in mid-April, defendant Petar Lazović claimed he was not guilty of abducting Goran Brajović.

He remarked that three years post-detainment, only those previously processed by the police remember him as if he acted independently.

“This is aptly illustrated by the saying: ‘the frog saw the horses being shod, so it also raised its legs.’ I did none of the things I am accused of. It seems the practice has emerged to blame me for everything that transpires in Montenegro, including arrests, torture, and kidnappings,” Lazović stated during the hearing.

His defense attorney, Nikola Martinović, commented that the indictment was without merit, lacking any evidence to support the allegations against Petar Lazović.

“There is no evidence that unequivocally confirms Petar Lazović was in Nikšić on the day in question, nor any indication that he had contact with the alleged victim,” Martinović argued.

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