AN alleged sex tape leak involving a glamorous official and a married advisor to the president of Montenegro has led them to resign in disgrace.
The huge political scandal involves Mirjana Pajković, director general for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and former National Security Agency Director Dejan Vukšić.
The pair resigned within weeks of each other after the explicit material was shared on social media, sparking a storm of outrage in government.
The leak allegedly shows Pajković engaging in sexual activity with married Vukšić.
In her statement, she encouraged “every woman” to reject the idea they have to remain silent, according to Montenegrin newspaper Pobjeda.
She accused Vukšić of blackmailing her with the video, which she said she was unaware of until the leak.
She said: “When I myself was exposed to the extreme violence that I posted on social networks, where the first person next to the president of the country, the first former person of the National Security Agency, very persistently and at length during the entire conversation told me that there would be no place for me and no life in Montenegro.”
Pajković said her departure was due to personal reasons.
But she took several swipes at Vukšić, accusing him of threatening her with the tape to remain quiet.
According to the outlet, Pajković said: “That my boss would see something that compromised me, where he clearly and directly threatened me that he had compromising material for me, why did I keep quiet at that moment?
“He told me this personally after I refused to act the way he asked me.”
Pajković said she feared Vukšić would harm her because of his senior role in the security sector.
“For example, when someone is blackmailing you. Someone more powerful will you for a favor, some behaviour that you do not want at that moment, and if you refuse to do it, you will be handed over to someone who is the embodiment of the highest state authority,” she said.
“No one will physically hit you, this is the 21st century, but they very clearly want to destroy your life on all grounds.”
Both sides have denied the allegations against them and have filed criminal complaints.
Pajković lodged a complaint over the unauthorised distribution of explicit content, including a photograph of her.
According to the Serbian Times, she even claims a threat was made against from a landline inside the president’s office.
In one recording, a voice can allegedly be heard warning that “all of Montenegro will see” comprising material of her.
Following the release of the explicit content, Vukšić resigned in late December – also citing personal reasons.
In a statement, he said: I reject all inaccurate, incomplete and tendentious allegations by which, without evidence, responsibility is being attributed to me for the violation of [Pajković] privacy and the distribution of the disputed recordings.
“I saw that content for the first time only when it began to circulate illegally on social networks.”
Vukšić accused Pajković of stealing the phone that allegedly recorded him threatening her.
He claimed he then began receiving “disturbing messages” from an unknown number demanding he withdraw his candidacy to become a judge at the country’s Constitutional Court – or risk the audio recordings being published.
Referring to Pajković by her initials, he said: ‘I believe that M.P. in this way, directly or indirectly, alone or through persons to whom she enabled the use of the content from her phone, attempted to exert unauthorised influence on the procedure for electing a judge of the Constitutional Court.”
Vukšić also accused Pajković of contacting him and attempting to blackmail him into supporting her nomination for a major promotion.
Pajković was later questioned by authorities after Vukšić submitted a police report alleging attempted extortion, theft and abuse of a phone.
While it remains unclear who released the sex tape, revenge porn is a serious criminal offence in Montenegro.
Those who are convicted can face up to five years behind bars.
