The footage from the February protests, which the police submitted to the Basic Court, was edited.
This is claimed by the defense of the eight defendants who were then detained while they were sitting on the street in front of the Government building and peacefully protesting the state of affairs in the country.
Even such a selected video does not confirm the testimony of the police officers, that they had to arrest the demonstrators and that they did so in accordance with their authority, said the lawyers of Marko Milačić, Boban Batrićević, Ninoslav Kaluđerović, Irene Delja, Danilo Mrvaljević, Miro and Milka. Radević and Aljoše Turović.
They are charged with "disobeying a removal order" because they allegedly obstructed traffic.
In the video viewed in the courtroom, not a single vehicle can be seen except for the police, and people who are not among the defendants are also sitting on the asphalt.
Lawyer Sanja Đurović judged it obvious that the recording does not show the chronologically complete event. She stated that even such an edited video does not confirm that there was an order from the police to remove the demonstrators from the street.
"It is evident that the police officers did not act lawfully, taking care not to violate the personal dignity of citizens, as they were required to do by law," she said.
She demanded that an expert report be carried out to confirm that the footage was staged.
Her colleague, lawyer Aleksandar Đurišić, said that the videos clearly showed that there was no traffic and that both lanes were blocked by police vehicles.
"It can be seen that there is no traffic, that there are no orders from the police and no reason for such an intervention. And if the court would appreciate that there was such an order, it can be seen that only two defendants were in a sitting position at the time of the use of force", said Đurišić.
The defendants pointed out that the video shows that there were more than 30 people standing and sitting on the street, but that the police did not arrest anyone except them, and that was at the moment when they started to sing birthday greetings to Prime Minister Milo Đukanović.
"This clearly indicates that the arrest was of a political nature," Milacic said.
Police officers Jovica Rečević, Ivan Stamatović and Darko Knežević claimed at the previous hearing that they had to detain the demonstrators in February because they were obstructing traffic, and that they issued them a first warning and then an order to get off the street or they would be arrested. .
The trial continues on February 24, when it is planned to watch two more recordings of the disputed event, which the defense was not aware of at yesterday's hearing.
Who are the cameramen and directors from the police?
Lawyer Aleksandar Đurišić requested yesterday that the police request the names of the persons who order the filming of such events, as well as the authors and editors of those videos - because in the systematization of that service, there are no jobs for videographers, editors or directors.
"The first cut is not a recording of the event in question at all, nor is it from Stanko Dragojevića Street, nor does it include any of the defendants, nor does it have any logical or technical connection with other parts of the recording," Đurišić pointed out.
The first few seconds of the watched video show unknown persons stopping a vehicle with diplomatic plates, not allowing it to pass.
"It is a edited video, which should confirm the statements of the policemen that there was traffic. We ask that that part of the video be separated from the case file," said lawyer Aleksandar Đurišić.
Bonus video:
