From Thursday April 23, 2009, international medias have reported in series [1] the private four-day visit (April 20-23) to Monrovia, capital of the Liberia in West Africa, of the convicted ex-Thai Prime Minister, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, 59, during which he held talks with the Chairman of the National Investment Commission of Liberia (NIC), Dr. Richard V. Tolbert, over possible investment in local mining sector.

The event would normally had nothing to do with Montenegro, if the fugitive ex-Prime Minister — on INTERPOL wanted list since the mid-April — had not presented on his arrival at Monrovia airport, a Montenegrin passport numbered I38kd3695. Until this date, he was reported using a Nicaraguan diplomatic passport issued to him in January 2009 by Managua’s Foreign Ministry, upon special decision of President José Daniel Ortega, as “Nicaraguan Ambassador on special mission” to bring investment to the country.

On Thursday May 7, 2009, by means of a press release published the day after in Podgorica daily “Pobjeda”, the Network for Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) formally requested on the basis of the Law on Free Access to Information (Official Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro, n° 68/05), “the decision by which Thaksin obtained the Montenegrin citizenship from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Administration, as well as all documents on the basis of which this decision was reached” — as can be read in the text signed by Mrs. Vanja Ćalović, MANS Executive Director and Montenegro’s most popular public person for many years according to CEDEM’s opinion polls. Lastly, on April 19 this year, H.E. Mr. Leopold Maurer, Ambassador and Head of the European Commission’s Delegation to Montenegro, congratulated MANS for its remarkable initiatives in organising anti-corruption events in Montenegro.

Today, this Friday May 8, 2009, on the occasion of his press conference announcing tomorrow’s festivities on Europe Day 2009, Ambassador Maurer declared in reply to a direct question by a journalist present, “I do not yet know whether this case (the affair “Thaksin”) will affect the liberalisation of visa regime for Montenegro.” Following him, Mr. Nebojša Medojević, President of the “Movement for Changes” (PzP), added in a free style that is his alone, “the Nation must have now to choose between two models, the ‘United Montenegrin Emirates’ or the European and democratic Montenegro...”

Since the beginning of the affair, H.E. Mr. Jusuf Kalamperović, Montenegrin Minister of Interior Affairs and Public Administration, is to the “absent subscribers”, leaving in the front line his deputy, Mr. Osman Subašić, to face questions from incredulous Montenegrin and international public opinion.

Apart in Montenegro, Montenegrin passports can only be delivered in the consular posts in New York, N.Y., USA and in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Montenegro became the 185th member countries of INTERPOL during the 75th General Assembly of the organisation, which was held on September 19-22, 2006 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

First update
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Today, this Wednesday May 13, 2009, Mr. Noppadon Pattama, former Thai Foreign Minister [2] and Thaksin’s legal adviser since November 2006, confirmed that “Thaksin is bidding to purchase Sveti Nikola Island near Budva since he has seen the potential that the island could be developed into a tourist destination.”
Since February 16 this year, an area of 37,073 m² of Sveti Nikola Island — which is also known as “Hawaii”, a popular excursion and beach site located opposite to the old town of Budva, one of Montenegro’s most attractive spots — has been on sale, together with its existing tourist facilities, by the First Bank of Montenegro (Prva Banka Crne Gore AD) after its owner, the Swiss-based Serbian businessman Mr. Stanko Subotic, defaulted on his loan and notified the Bank to sell the collateral as he could no longer meet his obligations.

The day before, the Thai Foreign Minister, H.E. Mr. Kasit Piromya, ordered country’s Embassies in Hungary, China and the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations in New York to make investigations about the Montenegrin passport issued to Thaksin. Thailand and Montenegro established diplomatic relations on June 6, 2007, and currently the country’s Ambassador in Budapest is accredited to represent Thailand’s interests in Montenegro.
For its part, the Montenegrin Ministry for Foreign Affairs confirmed that Thaksin’s passport was not issued by the consular post in New York, N.Y., USA, nor by the one in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Second update
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Today, this Monday May 25, 2009, by means of press release, Mrs. Vanja Ćalović, Executive Director of the Network for Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS), announced she will delivered tomorrow to the Administrative Court a complaint against the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Public Administration for flagrant violations of the Law on Free Access to Information, after had remained unfulfilled her request for information pertaining to the way by which the fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin was granted the Montenegrin citizenship, as well as where and when a biometric passport has been issued to him.

Background
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Thaksin [3] was appointed Prime Minister by H.M. King Bhumibol of Thailand on February 9, 2001, and renewed for a second term after the elections held on February 6, 2005. Accused of corruption and abuse of power, several months of protests by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) — a self-proclaimed royalist movement that dressed with yellow shirts — led to a bloodless military coup in the evening on September 19, 2006. Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin kept in exile since then, and his Thai diplomatic passport was revoked on December 31st, 2006.
While the pro-Thaksin faction was in power after winning December 2007 general elections, he briefly returned back to Thailand in February 2008 to face corruption charges but, on August 11, he fled again into exile and, in October the same year, was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison. Since fleeing, Thaksin was spotted in Central America, London, Dubai and Hong Kong among other places. On April 12, the Thai Government revoked his personal passport at the beginning of the political turmoil and street violence caused by his supporters that left two people killed and hundreds wounded (April 12-13), and few days later submitted to INTERPOL an arrest warrant in his name.
Additionally, the European Union (EU) issued a prohibition on entry for the ex-Prime Minister, as well as the United States of America.