Branislav Živković, the assistant chief of the Podgorica Security Center, said yesterday that he had no knowledge of any irregularities in the police's treatment of Ivan Bušković, who was convicted of the attack on "Vijesti" journalist Olivera Lakić.
He said this during the continuation of the trial against the six accused for giving a false alibi to Bušković.
Nikola Bušković, Ivan Bušković's brother and their comrades Dragoslav Perazić, Ivan Siništaj, Borko Čađenović, Branko Bašović and Simo Đurović were accused of lying in court on May 28, 2012 and testifying that Ivan Bušković on March 7, 2012, between 21 played soccer with them until 22 p.m. Then Lakić was attacked.
Police officer Petar Šćepanović, who was present when Lakić identified Bušković as the attacker, stated that there were five persons of similar appearance in the identification room at the time, but that Lakić immediately pointed to Bušković.
"After that, she asked us to light up the room a little and to bring him closer to the glass, so that she could see him well so she wouldn't make a mistake, and then Lakić definitely recognized him as the perpetrator," Šćepanović said, among other things.
Answering the defense counsel's questions, Šćepanović said that until then no one in his presence had asked for additional lighting during identification, but that everything was done with the consent of the prosecutor who was present.
Šćepanović and Živković also, in response to the defense counsel's question, stated that they did not know why Bušković was designated as a suspect for the attack on Lakić.
The judge did not allow the police officers to answer the question - why they allegedly beat Bušković for three hours in the police station after the attack on Lakić.
Bašović then loudly said "It was all staged and not legally done".
The trial continues on March 18.
The criminal offense of giving a false statement is punishable by three months to five years in prison.
Although Bušković was legally convicted for the attack on Lakić, the motive was never established.
In the final verdict, judge Željka Jovović stated that his friends - "football players" - had falsely testified, so the prosecution filed an indictment against them.
Since February 2011, Lakić has been the target of harassment and threats, and later of physical attack.
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