Nailj Draga was sentenced to a year in prison

The director of the Culture Center in Ulcinj, Nailj Draga, was sentenced to a year in prison, suspended, due to accusations that he abused his official position.

The first-instance verdict was pronounced by judge Sanja Mirović.

According to that decision, an official of the ruling Force will not serve his sentence, unless he commits a new criminal offense within the next three years.

Draga is accused of illegally obtaining financial benefits from fellow citizens Vedat Ljamović and Amir Zagović in 2012 and 2013.

It says that Draga and Ljamović concluded illegal contracts for the lease of the building owned by the Cultural Center, without a previously organized public tender.

"In that way, he favored Ljamović over other interested parties," the verdict states.

In the former cinema garden on Pristan, Ljamović has been running a disco for years.

The judge also condemned Drago for the fact that, contrary to the law and without a tender, he concluded a contract with Zagović on the lease of a room in the former Cinema Hall.

Due to the fact that the space, which was confiscated half a century ago for the needs of the cinema garden, had not been used for decades, the Municipality recently lost the legal dispute with the heirs of the Lala Zubera family.

On the same basis, the remaining part of the summer cinema garden will belong to the Milošević family, which is claiming the seized property on Pristan.

Draga did not want to comment on the verdict yesterday.

"There will be time, nothing is final yet," a Force official told "Vijesta" yesterday.