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Du?ko Kne?evi?是黑山前总统米罗?ukanovi?的疏远盟友，他被指控欺诈和洗钱。他的律师声称这些指控是出于政治动机。
一名在黑山被监禁的商人被当局用作“棋子”，企图挖出该国前总统的丑闻，他的英国律师声称。
Du?ko Kne?evi?， 65岁，曾经是黑山最富有的人之一，也是前总统米罗?ukanovi?的亲密盟友，自从4月份从英国被引渡以来一直在监狱里。
这位拥有英国和黑山双重国籍的人，他的一些资产已被查封，他仍因涉嫌欺诈、洗钱和滥用职权而等待审判。
他否认所有指控，称这些指控是出于政治动机。
然而，首都波德戈里察当局认为，他在?ukanovi?年间的商业交易有问题要在法庭上回答。
代表Kne?evi?的英国刑事律师托比·卡德曼（Toby Cadman）说，黑山当局想要强迫他的当事人分享对他的前朋友?ukanovi?不利的证据。
?ukanovi?曾被称为黑山“永远的”领袖，1991年首次出任黑山总理。在接下来的30年里，他一直担任要职，直到2023年被赶下台。
“Kne?evi?已经非常明确地表示，他有关于腐败问题的前政府的证据。特别是针对前总统米洛?ukanovi?，”卡德曼说，他暗示这些材料与“两三个具体事件”有关。
“黑山当局正在有效地向他施压，要求他披露细节并与他们合作，”卡德曼说，然后补充说，他的当事人只有在被释放的情况下才会合作。
卡德曼表达了他对Kne?evi?安全的担忧，暗示他有强大的敌人。
他还说，Kne?evi?去年12月在波德戈里察附近的spurov监狱被关押期间摔倒，健康状况一度恶化，这进一步加剧了恐慌。他的头部受伤后来感染，但随后康复。
卡德曼还对黑山的法律体系感到担忧，他认为黑山的法律体系不太可能给Kne?evi?一个公平的审判。卡德曼说，除非情况有所改变，否则黑山不应该被允许加入欧盟，它希望在这个十年里加入欧盟。
“对我来说，最令人吃惊的事情之一是现在关于黑山加入欧盟的讨论。除非他们认真解决司法和监狱系统中的地方性问题，否则这个国家还没有做好准备。”
黑山政府、相关部委和斯普洛夫监狱当局没有回应就这些指控发表评论的多次请求。
总部位于黑山的金融公司阿特拉斯集团（Atlas Group）的创始人Kne?evi?长期以来一直是?ukanovi?核心圈子的一部分。
当?ukanovi?在20世纪90年代掌权时，他很快就被像Kne?evi?这样的人包围，这些人在他逐渐寻求从贝尔格莱德独立出来的过程中给予了他政治上的支持，然后在前南斯拉夫卷入了一系列战争。
随着国家开始从社会主义体制向开放的市场经济过渡，?ukanovi?慢慢引入了新的法律，允许国有企业和基础设施大规模私有化。
Jelena D?anki?, a political scientist at the European University Institute, said those close to ?ukanovi? profited from such legislation in the 1990s, which allowed them to gain influence in sectors such as real estate and banking.
“What happened in Montenegro wasn't that different from what had happened in east European countries. Those close to the regime got preferential access to all these important resources,” she explained.
“Obviously, they served a particular purpose, reinforcing in one way or another ?ukanovi?’s rule. I think Kne?evi? was also an important player in this … as a friend and then as a foe.”
Kne?evi? amassed significant wealth and influence as the owner of Atlasmont Bank, which was part of his Atlas Group. The corporation also consisted of dozens of other companies, in sectors ranging from media to real estate and from healthcare to tourism. He also owned Mediteran University, an institution he founded in Podgorica.
Over time, the relationship between Kne?evi? and the president soured. The first cracks appeared in 2014, when ?ukanovi?'s government refused to accept proposed changes to the privatisation agreement it had with Kne?evi?, concerning the prized Meljine hospital compound near the Adriatic town of Herceg Novi.
Then, three years later, several of his bank's employees were arrested on a warrant from the Special Prosecutor's Office over alleged money laundering.
The authorities alleged that, through a suspicious conversion of dollars into euros, a criminal network of 79 individuals and scores of companies from Montenegro and abroad laundered 500 million. By the end of 2018, the investigation led Atlasmont into administration and his other bank, Invest Bank Montenegro, to bankruptcy.
Matters came to a head in 2019, when Kne?evi? — now publicly accusing the president of attempting a hostile takeover of his businesses and wealth — released a video with the intention of exposing corruption within ?ukanovi?’s Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
The footage, from 2016, shows Kne?evi? himself handing an envelope to Slavoljub Stijepovi?, the then-mayor of Podgorica. Inside was almost 100,000, money that was later spent by the DPS on campaigning, Kne?evi? alleged.
The DPS denies claims of wrongdoing in the financing of its campaigns.
What became known as the “envelope scandal” brought high-level corruption in Montenegro — something commonly gossiped about but never seriously debated — to the front pages of local newspapers.
However, the protests it sparked were not critical to the DPS’ parliamentary defeat in 2020 and ?ukanovi?’s presidential defeat in 2023, according to D?anki?. More important was the anger generated by the 2019 Law on Religious Freedoms, which the Serbian Orthodox Church said threatened its land holdings in Montenegro, she added.
Referring to corruption under ?ukanovi?’s rule, D?anki? said the envelope scandal was “a tiny spot on the tip of the iceberg.”
“The scandal was mostly symbolic because most people in Montenegro were aware that the DPS' rule was corrupt …It wasn't anything exceptionally revealing.”
Kenneth Morrison, a historian at De Montfort University who specialises in the Western Balkans, said Kne?evi?, as a former “insider”, was “very much part of the DPS system of clientelism and patronage that was so despised by those parties and individuals that are now in government.”
“Opponents of the DPS remember Kne?evi? as a person who funded DPS electoral campaigns, though some civil society groups are more sympathetic and see him as a crucial part of the evidence gathering process that they hope will lead to the arrest of ?ukanovi? on corruption charges,” he said.
为此目的，有些人希望给予Kne?evi?合作证人的地位。然而，根据黑山的法律，这是不可能的，因为他仍然是犯罪企业案件的嫌疑人，莫里森指出。
对于Kne?evi?曝光DPS不法行为的动机，人们仍然心存疑虑。他并不是近年来唯一一个与他疏远的?ukanovi?前盟友。
莫里森说，“有人声称Kne?evi?在某种程度上受到了启发，并出于道德原因决定揭露腐败行为，这是非常值得怀疑的。”
在回应外界对他的客户曾与?ukanovi?关系密切的批评时，卡德曼说，如果没有与当时的领导人的关系，就不可能在黑山做生意。卡德曼暗示，在他的统治下，这个国家是“一个封闭的商店”。
关于在网上发布这段视频的决定，卡德曼说Kne?evi?是为了他和公众的利益。
“他认为这是他唯一可以采取的行动，以保护自己，并确保公众了解当时州长的腐败程度。”
虽然?ukanovi?不再执政，黑山在寻求加入欧盟的过程中仍然面临重大挑战。
在谈到他的当事人被监禁和长时间等待审判时，卡德曼说，目前的黑山政府没有做出足够的改善。我们可以看到的是，就司法系统而言，几乎没有什么变化。”
这个西巴尔干国家在2008年正式申请加入欧盟，这是在它从塞尔维亚独立两年后。
乌克兰现任总统雅科夫·米拉托维奇（Jakov milatovic）曾表示，希望乌克兰能在2027年获得成员国资格，并在2028年加入欧盟。
然而，来自布鲁塞尔的最新进展报告表明，这可能很难实现。尽管它被称赞为该地区的“领导者”，但该国被告知必须在治理、司法以及打击高层腐败和有组织犯罪等领域进行改进。
莫里森表示，黑山在加入欧盟方面取得了“稳步进展”，但强调仍有“很多工作要做”。
莫里森解释说，同为“现在的欧洲”党成员的米拉托维奇和总理米洛伊科·斯帕吉奇之间持续的紧张关系，以及政府未能改变国家运作方式，都无助于该国的前景。
他说，?ukanovi?之后的领导人“在很多方面延续了‘旧政权’特有的裙带主义制度”。
D?anki?同意需要进行大量的改革，包括加强黑山的司法系统和法治。“对我个人来说，2027年可能有点雄心勃勃。但我愿意接受纠正，”她说。
她强调，必须解决贪污问题——贿赂的信封就是贪污的象征。
D?anki?说：“在某种程度上，信封是黑山办事的象征……我认为信封文化需要改变。”
