In October 2024, the Special State Prosecutor’s Office of Montenegro filed an indictment against the former chief special prosecutor Milivoje Katnić and the former assistant director of the police Zoran Lazović, accusing them of creating a criminal organisation and of abuse of official position. Their pre-trial custody was extended by the Higher Court in Podgorica, citing flight risk and risks of repeating the crime in the case of Katnić, and flight risk and severity of crime in the case of Lazović.

Katnić and Lazović were arrested in April 2024, following an order by the special state prosecutor. Lazović was suspected of creating a criminal organisation, while Katnić was suspected of becoming a member of this organisation; both men faced charges of abuse of official position. Following the arrest, the special state prosecutor stated that a long investigation was conducted in cooperation with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL).

According to the indictment, filed in October 2024, the criminal organisation Lazović was charged with creating included Katnić, as well as Lazović’s son Petar Lazović, the former special state prosecutor Saša Čađenović, and others. This organisation, according to the prosecutor, cooperated with the notorious Kavač criminal clan, led by Radoje Zvicer. The prosecution also accused Lazović of abuse of official position, money laundering, and unauthorised possession and carrying of weapons and explosive materials.

The special state prosecutor states that Lazović’s group had a goal to abuse official position by failing to prosecute members of its own organisation and Kavač clan in exchange for illegal benefits, while a part of the criminal organisation had an influence on the Police Directorate and other important institutions. At the time the assistant police director of the Sector for the Fight against Organised Crime and Corruption, Lazović is suspected of securing the lifting of an entry ban in December 2020 for two members of the Kavač clan, Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković, who are currently on trial in Serbia for murders and other crimes. According to the prosecution, Lazović received the request to do this from Radoje Zvicer through his son Petar.

The High Court in Podgorica extended the investigative custody to Lazović and Katnić in October 2024. In late November, Katnić contested all allegations at the indictment review hearing, claiming that the special state prosecutor failed to provide evidence and selectively used elements of the SKY communication in the indictment. Subsequently, in late January 2025, the High Court in Podgorica returned the indictment to the special prosecutor’s office due to numerous deficiencies, demanding specification of when exactly the alleged criminal organisation was formed, who comprised it and when, as well as clarification of the concrete illegal gains. The court also found inconsistencies in claims regarding the entry ban for Belivuk and Miljković into Montenegro. Special Prosecutor Miloš Šoškić returned the amended indictment to the high court several days later, and it was accepted in March 2025.

The case of Lazović and Katnić is one in a series of corruption and organised crime cases against former high-profile security sector and judicial figures, following the defeat of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) in the August 2020 elections. In 2022, the MANS Investigative Centre published a report on property dealings of Zoran Lazović’s family. This research revealed that the Lazović family obtained various properties often below market prices and at terms suggesting preferential treatment. Zoran Lazović’s son Petar, a former officer of the National Security Agency, was arrested in 2022 on several charges, including creating a criminal organisation, drug trafficking, and abuse of official position.