Montenegro Names Organized Crime Dept Chief

The Montenegrin Interior Minister on Wednesday said an ex-judge, Milivoje Katnic, would head up the country's new organised crime-busting department, creating conditions for the police and the prosecution to show better results in the fight against this scourge.

Konjevic said much effort was being invested in the appointment of a special prosecutor and that the government, society and the country's international partners all now expect the results "to be better than they were before.
 
"We have created all the conditions for the elected special prosecutor and his deputies, the police and other law enforcement bodies, to give results in the field, thus contributing to our country's easier passage through the process of [European] integration," Konjevic said.

The former Appeal Court judge was elected for the post of Chief Special Prosecutor for organized crime and corruption and as head of the new Special Public Prosecutor's Office.

The Prosecution Council, chaired by the Supreme State Prosecutor, Ivica Stankovic, approved Kantic's appintment unanimously.

"We believe Katnic will prove that we have chosen the right candidate through his work and that he will perform his duties successfully. I expect him to intensify the fight against corruption and organised crime," Stankovic said after the session.

Faced with criticism from Europe for not doing enough to punish high-level corruption, abuse of office and gang crime, Montenegro is modeling its new special prosecutor's department on Croatia's efficient and widely praised USKOK office.

The special unit will be established within the police but its officers will act only on the orders of the Special Prosecutor.

The aim of the new organization, the...