Jelena Perovic, former head of the Anti-Corruption Agency in the EU candidate country, is sentenced to two years and two months in jail in a first-instance ruling.
Predrag Milic
The Higher Court in Podgorica has sentenced the former head of Montenegro’s Anti-Corruption Agency, ASK, Jelena Perovic, to two years and two months in prison for abuse of office and falsifying an official document, media reported on Tuesday.
Perovic’s deputy, Nina Paovic, was sentenced to six months of house arrest for abuse of office.
Both were ordered to repay 19,825 and 7,417 euros respectively. Neither Perovic nor Paovic attended the sentencing, media reported.
Perovic was acquitted of several charges, including over the payment of performance bonuses and an official trip to Ljubljana. However, she was found guilty of authorising the payment of a mobile phone bill used by her daughter, as well as covering expenses for 15 official trips taken by an external contractor engaged under a service contract, which the court said he was not legally entitled to.
According to media reports, the judge said the contractor had travelled 15 times at the expense of the agency without a lawful basis for reimbursement.
The court also extended a precautionary measure requiring Perovic to periodically report to the authorities.
Her defence lawyer, Nikola Martinovic, told national broadcaster RTCG that an appeal will be filed.
He said the defence was satisfied with the acquittals on several charges. But he criticised the conviction related to the service contract, arguing that the contract had been assessed by the State Audit Institution as valid, and warning that such a legal interpretation could have wider implications for public officials.
“If such a practice were to continue, although I believe it will not, I believe that within the next two to three years all ministers and directors of state-owned companies would end up in prison,” he said.
Perovic was briefly detained in 2024 on suspicion of abuse of office and was dismissed as ASK director in August 2024. She was released but placed under house arrest, barred from contacting certain people, and her travel documents were confiscated.
Before leading the agency, she was president of the Basic Court in Cetinje and a judge in Podgorica.
Montenegro, an EU candidate country often described as a frontrunner in the accession process, has been under sustained pressure to tackle corruption and strengthen the rule of law.
