The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) condemns the public statements of the Minister of Defence of Montenegro, Dragan Krapovic, accusing lawyer Veselin Radulovic of being part of an organized crime team and threatening him with retaliation in connection with the exercise of his professional functions.
Veselin Radulovic is a lawyer representing police officers suspended in the vetting process under way in the Police Administration of Montenegro, as well as two individuals accused in a case concerning the Director of the Police Administration. He has filed a series of criminal complaints against the political party to which Minister Krapovic belongs, Demokrate – Demokratska Crna Gora (Democratic Montenegro), and its officials.
Public accusations and threats of this kind by any public official, and especially by a high-level government minister, made against a lawyer as a consequence of their representation of clients and the performance of professional functions, such as the filing of criminal complaints, constitute a clear abuse of authority. This conduct amounts to harassment, intimidation of and improper interference with the legal profession, which undermines the fair administration of justice in Montenegro and violates the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.
“When a government minister brands a lawyer a member of organized crime because of the clients he represents and the complaints he files, the message is addressed to the entire legal profession,” said Temur Shakirov, ICJ Europe and Central Asia Programme Director. “Independent lawyers in Montenegro must be able to act for their clients and to speak on matters of public concern without fear of retaliation by the State.”
The ICJ calls on the Montenegrin authorities to publicly disavow the statements against Veselin Radulovic, to refrain from identifying lawyers with their clients or their clients’ causes, and to ensure that he and all lawyers in Montenegro are able to carry out their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference. The ICJ also calls for an independent investigation into the campaign of intimidation with a view to ensuring redress and accountability.
The statements came after Veselin Radulovic filed a criminal complaint on 29 June with the Special State Prosecutor’s Office against Minister Krapovic, his party and officials of the Ministry of Defence, in connection with the procurement of two patrol boats allegedly concluded without a public procurement procedure. The Ministry of Defence has rejected the allegations.
In public statements made in the days that followed, Minister Krapovic asserted that Veselin Radulovic was “part of a team that includes criminal clans and organized crime groups”, referring, according to reports, to the criminal complaints the lawyer had filed against the party and its officials. The Minister reportedly described the lawyer as a small cog, stated that as a participant in a “witch hunt” he would be held accountable, warning that “Radulovic is next”.
The Minister also accused Radulovic of belonging to a group organized with the intent to endanger the safety of the Director of the Police Administration through “hybrid” actions, reportedly in connection with his representation of two individuals accused in a case concerning the police director. According to Human Rights Action (HRA), a Montenegrin human rights organization with which Radulovic acts as legal counsel, the Minister presented no evidence in support of these accusations.
Veselin Radulovic has to date reportedly filed 14 criminal complaints against Democratic Montenegro, its officials and associated individuals. The filing of criminal complaints and the representation of clients are ordinary professional functions of a lawyer, and the assessment of such complaints falls to the competent prosecutorial and judicial authorities, not to members of the government.
Background
Veselin Radulovic is a lawyer practising in Podgorica. On 17 September 2025, the UN Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers, on freedom of expression and on human rights defenders addressed a communication to the Government of Montenegro concerning online and media attacks against Radulovic, reportedly for his work as a lawyer in the vetting process, and against Tea Gorjanc Prelevic, Executive Director of HRA. The Government’s reply, according to HRA, did not address the concerns in substance.
On 4 July 2026, HRA issued a statement denouncing against the remarks made by Minister Krapovic. On 6 July 2026, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, publicly expressed concern that a high-ranking government official had made public allegations about a prominent lawyer, apparently in response to his professional activities, and reiterated that lawyers must be able to work free from interference or intimidation. Minister Krapovic has announced that he intends to file a criminal complaint against Radulovic for false reporting.
In April 2024, the ICJ conducted a research mission on the independence of the judiciary in Montenegro, and in 2025 it published the report Beyond the Benchmarks: Dilemmas of Effective Judicial Reforms in Montenegro.
Applicable international law and standards
The UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers provide:
“16. Governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (b) are able to travel and to consult with their clients freely both within their own country and abroad; and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.
18. Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions. […]
23. Lawyers like other citizens are entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly. In particular, they shall have the right to take part in public discussion of matters concerning the law, the administration of justice and the promotion and protection of human rights and to join or form local, national or international organizations and attend their meetings, without suffering professional restrictions by reason of their lawful action or their membership in a lawful organization. […]”
Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides:
“2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”
