The mystery of who was behind April’s bizarre midnight demolition of buildings in Belgrade has been solved, according to Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic: top city officials gave the orders, but he’s sure they did it out of “pure” motives.
In a country where graft is seen on all levels of society, the re-elected mayors of 11 counties are either accused or under investigation for corruption, Balkan Insight reported.
In another blow to the government of Interim President Michel Temer, Attorney General Rodrigo Janot called for the arrest of several senior politicians on allegations that they obstructed corruption probes. Meanwhile, authorities yesterday raided the headquarters of the consortium in charge of constructing a sports complex for the Olympics following allegations of fraud relating to construction waste disposal.
The head of Albanian police has been suspended at the request of prosecutors who are investigating him for abuse of office regarding their suspicion that police are illegally using a wiretapping device which they say entered the country “without proper authorization.”
The security situation in Kotor, a city under the protection of UNESCO, culminated last week when unknown perpetrators in just two days shot twice at Milos Radonjic, a member of one of Kotor’s mafia clans, who was previously wounded in a shootout 10 days ago. In the last few months Kotor has been affected by numerous shootings between criminal organizations, which is why the Ministry of Internal Affairs on several occasions sent additional police forces to the city.
As protesters painted the main square in Skopje red Monday evening, commemorating the murder of a young man by a police officer five years ago, President Gjorge Ivanov decided to revoke all 56 pardons he issued last month for top politicians and their alleged associates involved in a wiretapping scandal that sparked the long-running political crisis in the country.
Luxury villas in the middle of a forest, near a 15th century monastery, are part of plans by a foreign investor who offered the services of unregulated workers to evade building standards and pay less money relating to taxes and construction fees, according to an investigation from OCCRP partner RISE Moldova.
The Montenegrin government decided to issue a reward for information on the identity of those behind the 2004 murder of Dusko Jovanovic, the celebrated founder and chief editor of Dan, Montenegro's highest-circulation daily newspaper.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a near total ban on the domestic commercial trade of African ivory by limiting imports, exports and sales across state lines.
Two men sailing a yacht filled with cocaine from the island of Curacao and intercepted by authorities off the UK coast were sentenced to prison last week, the National Crime Agency (NCA) wrote.