Man arrested for extorting ex-father-in-law in Bijelo Polje
Prosecutors in Bijelo Polje accuse a 37-year-old man of trying to extort 20,000 euros from his former father-in-law and of threatening his ex-wife and her mother.
- A 37-year-old man from Bijelo Polje was arrested on suspicion of trying to extort 20,000 euros from his former father-in-law.
- He is accused of making threats to life and body and of using physical force against the victim.
- According to the suspicion, he also sent serious threats to his ex-wife and her mother, three people in total.
- The suspect was located after police measures in the Berane area and then arrested in Bijelo Polje.
Police in Bijelo Polje have arrested a 37-year-old man on suspicion that he tried to extort 20,000 euros from his former father-in-law. The suspect, identified only as A. O., is also accused of domestic violence, with the case handled by the competent prosecutor’s office in the northern Montenegrin town.
According to investigators, the man demanded the money while making threats to life and body. He is suspected of repeatedly threatening the victim and, at one point, of using physical force against him. The aim, prosecutors say, was to force the former father-in-law to hand over the sum.
The case does not stop with one person. The prosecution suspects that the same man directed serious threats at his ex-wife and her mother as well. That widened the circle of victims to three people and gave the offence a more serious legal classification.
What the suspect is accused of
The prosecution is building the case on two grounds. The first is attempted extortion, since, based on available information, no money was actually handed over. The second is domestic violence, given that the victims include the ex-wife and her mother, both people from the suspect’s former family and marital circle.
The arrest followed operational measures carried out by police on the prosecutor’s orders. The suspect was first located in the Berane municipality area and then arrested in Bijelo Polje. After questioning, he is due to be brought before the competent prosecutor with a criminal complaint within the legally prescribed deadline.
One point deserves emphasis. The suspect is presumed innocent until any guilt is established by a final court decision. Everything stated so far remains at the level of suspicion and is subject to further proof.
Why is the case treated as extortion combined with domestic violence?
Extortion and domestic violence are two separate criminal offences, but in practice they often overlap. When a financial demand is backed by threats aimed at family members or former partners, prosecutors have grounds to view the acts as combined offences. That means they are not treated in isolation, but as a connected chain of actions by one perpetrator.
Such a classification is not merely technical. It affects the range of the prescribed penalty and the precautionary measure prosecutors can propose to the court, including pre-trial detention. That is precisely why the number of victims, three in this case, is a key element checked from the first day of the investigation.
Threats within family and partner relationships often go unreported until they escalate into open pressure or force. This case became public only because it reached prosecutors and ended in an arrest. How many similar situations, in your view, never reach a complaint at all?
