Ananije Nikic (59), one of the prime suspects in the case of attempted terrorism in Montenegro on 16 October 2016, has been arrested today in the Russian region of Rostov, the Police Directorate confirmed.
He has been arrested under an Interpol notice issued by Montenegro’s bureau.
“The suspect has been arrested in order to ensure its presence in the pre-trial procedure related to the criminal offense. He has been brought to the competent judge who will order the extradition detention. The communication between Montenegro and Russia concerning the extradition of persons is to follow,” the directorate said in the statement.
Montenegrin authorities issued a warrant against Ananije Nino Nikic, a DF’s translator/interpreter, on suspicion that he was part of the logistics network for the group who planned terrorist attacks in Podgorica on 16 October 2016 after the closure of polling stations.
Investigators have become interested in Ananije Nikic, after former Serbian intelligence officer Slavko Nikic claimed that he was offered to be one of the key organisers of the group that was supposed to “create chaos in Montenegro”.
On 21 January, in an interview with Happy TV, Slavko Nikic said that on late spring 2016, Ananije Nino Nikic visited him along with a man who introduced himself as an FSB agent asking him to do a job for “friends from Russia”.
Investigators suspect that the agent was Vladimir Popov (36), who is wanted in Montenegro. In addition to Popov, the Montenegrin authorities issued a warrant against Eduard Shirokov (Shishmakov) (45), a member of the Russian GRU military security service. The two of them are believed to be the main organisers of the group that was to cause bloodshed in Montenegro on 16 October.
According to Montenegrin investigators, Nikic left Montenegro on 9 November 2016. The media reported on his whereabouts in Russia.
Read more about the arrest in tomorrow’s edition of Dnevne Novine newspapers.
