Human Rights Action (HRA) has provided legal assistance to blogger and meme creator Radosav Vrbica, whose phone and two laptops were temporarily seized on 3 October 2025 as part of an operation by the Special Police Department (SPO), acting on the order of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT).

The items were seized on suspicion of the criminal offences of abuse of office and disclosure of classified information.

The legal deadline for retaining temporarily seized items is three months — that is, until 3 January 2026 — unless criminal proceedings have been initiated by then. That deadline expired long ago, as it is now May, yet no indictment has been filed and no explanation has been provided regarding the further status of the items.

Lawyer Dalibor Tomović, whom HRA engaged to represent Vrbica, contacted the SPO, which seized the items, requesting their return and information on their status.

The SPO did not respond to either request until today, when we were informed that we should contact the SDT.

HRA emphasizes that the suspicions cited by the SDT are unfounded: Vrbica does not currently hold, nor has he previously held, an official position, which rules out the criminal offence of abuse of such a position. As for the disclosure of classified information, all posts on his social media profiles are public and accessible to everyone. Vrbica maintains that he did not publish classified information, HRA has not identified any such information in his posts, and to date the SDT has not specified what concrete classified information is at issue.

To protect Radosav Vrbica’s rights, lawyer Tomović submitted a proposal to initiate proceedings before the Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution, as well as a lawsuit before the Basic Court in Podgorica against the State of Montenegro over the unlawful retention of the seized items.

HRA recalls that the temporary seizure of personal items for longer than the legally prescribed period, without explanation and without an indictment being filed, constitutes a violation of the right to property and the right to fair treatment. The state is obliged to return the items urgently and bears responsibility for any unlawful conduct.