Montenegro’s Special State Prosecutor’s Office ordered an investigation into former special chief prosecutor of for war crimes against Croatian civilians in the Cavat area in 1992 and during the break up former Yugoslavia, according to local media reports on Thursday.

The Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT) arrested Katnic on April 14, accusing him of inhumane treatment of civilians during armed conflict during his time as an officer in the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA). This included accusations of attacking, torturing, injuring and degrading civilian’s dignity, violating IV Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilians in Time of War. 

The investigation into Katnic followed the evaluation of evidence collected by Croatian authorities and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. Katnic denied any involvement in war crimes during his interrogation.

These are not the first allegations against Katnic. He was previously accused by NGOs and former prisoners of being involved in arson attacks and robberies during the siege of Dubrovnik. In 2018, another investigation was launched against him following claims by opposition leader Nebojsa Medojevic, but it was closed due to lack of evidence.

Katnic was the main prosecutor in the controversial case of “coup” against the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) government in Montenegro in 2016. Katnic accused Russian and Serbian citizens and the current president of Montenegro, Andrija Mandic, and Milan Knezevic, a member of the current coalition, of planning a terrorist attack to overthrow the government on election day by assassinating Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.