Mirjana Pajković, a former Montenegrin government official, has spoken publicly about the personal and professional fallout after explicit videos of her surfaced online last week, saying both of her sons noticed that she was struggling.
Pajković, who resigned last Friday as director of the Directorate for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms in the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, said she plans to continue her career in law. She noted that other lawyers who have been convicted of crimes have continued working in the profession.
“These videos were made for another purpose, not for distribution,” Pajković said in the “Now and Here” podcast on Hajp TV. “I have never broken any law, and I would never have published these myself.” She added that the clips emerged as she was speaking publicly about abuses of power directed at her.
Pajković described the extensive online distribution of the videos as overwhelming and said she tried to plead with people not to share them further. “I was powerless,” she said. “The sheer hysteria of distribution forced me into a position of asking people not to distress those around me.”
She also spoke about her family and personal background. Pajković lost her parents in a car accident when she was 22 months old and was raised by her grandparents and uncle. She said the experience left a lasting impact but that she felt supported and loved by her extended family.
Pajković has two sons, aged 17 and 14. She said her older son has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and coordination and cognitive challenges. “Both sons noticed that their mother was not well,” she said, describing her older son as highly sensitive to her emotional state and protective of her during difficult moments.
Dejan Vukšić, the former head of Montenegro’s National Security Agency and once an adviser to President Jakov Milatović, who is also linked to the scandal, denied involvement in the dissemination of the videos. In a statement, Vukšić rejected claims that he had compromised Pajković’s privacy. “I first saw these materials when they began circulating illegally on social media,” he said.
The controversy has shaken Montenegro in recent weeks. Pajković and Vukšić both resigned from their government posts following the scandal, which included multiple criminal complaints filed by Pajković against Vukšić.
Pajković emphasized that the videos were not politically motivated, noting that she is not affiliated with any political party. She is currently pursuing legal avenues to address the situation.