Police officers Jovica Rečević, Ivan Stamatović and Darko Knežević claim that they had to detain protesters in February because they were obstructing traffic.
They announced this while testifying at the trial of Marko Milačić, Boban Batrićević, Ninoslav Kaluđerović, Irena Delja, Danilo Mrvaljević, Miro and Milka Radević and Aljoša Turović.
They are on trial for not complying with the removal order, when they were sitting on the street in front of the MUP building and peacefully protesting the bad situation in the country.
The former deputy chief of the Podgorica police, Rečević, said that, as the head of security for the gathering, he ordered his colleague Knežević to forcibly remove the demonstrators from the street, if they did not comply with the order.
He said that at first the policemen were pelted with stones in front of the Government building, when he issued the order to disperse the demonstrators with chemical means and that all the policemen should be involved in order to stop the disturbance of public order and peace.
"After the situation calmed down, I issued an order to allow traffic on Stanko Dragojevića Boulevard, when a certain number of people poured onto the street. Then I told Knežević that they should be removed from the road in a legal procedure. When I saw that they did not follow his order, I told them to immediately remove themselves from the roadway," said Rečević.
When asked by the defenders of the accused whether any person who stoned buildings and the police with phantoms that day had been deprived of their liberty, Rečević stated that he was sure that they had, but he could not name them.
When asked why the order was issued to allow traffic when the protest was still in progress, Rečević pointed out that he estimated that the conditions for that had been met, given that the situation had calmed down and most of the demonstrators had dispersed.
Knežević and Stamatović confirmed their colleague's story.
The defenders of the accused objected to the statements of the policemen, stating that the statements of the witnesses confirmed that the police actions were not carried out in accordance with the law.
According to them, the police officers did not react in a timely manner to the violence that happened on the streets - when people with phantoms created disturbances, but they reacted to the non-violent act of the demonstrators by using force.
"Only today do we find out who and why issued the order, and that it was not issued in accordance with the Law on Internal Affairs, and we find out that there is no rulebook of the ministry that regulates the manner and conditions of issuing warnings and orders", pointed out Aleksandar Đurišić.
The trial continues on December 23.
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