Ex-President Marovic’s Jail Sentence in Montenegro Partly Expires

Svetozar Marovic, ex-president of the former State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and once a close associate to the current Montenegrin President, Milo Djukanovic, has for years hidden from justice in Serbia, avoiding serving a prison sentence at home of three years and nine months for corruption.

However, part of his sentence, a one-year jail sentence awarded as a substitute for an unpaid million -euros fine, expired almost a month ago, the Kotor Basic Court told local newspaper Vijesti on Monday.

"According to the decision of the High Court in Podgorica, his single fine for the amount of 1.1 million euros was replaced by a one-year prison sentence, and the statute of limitations came into effect [for this] on June 28, 2021," the court said.

Marovic's remaining prison sentence of three years and nine months still stands. The court added that the statute of limitations for this part of the sentence expires on October 10, 2026.

Marovic was president of the former State Union of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006, before the country regained its independence following a referendum.

He was arrested in Montenegro in 2015 over a string of corruption charges linked to his hometown of Budva and, after signing a plea deal, was sentenced in September 2016 to three years and nine months in prison. He was also fined just over a million euros.

His son, Milos, also pleaded guilty to involvement in an illegal land sale in a village near Budva that prosecutors said cost the municipality 1.4 million euros. He was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to repay 380,000 euros. Both men fled the country and have reportedly lived since then untouched in neighbouring Serbia.

Montenegro issued a warrant for Marovic's...