Nikola Ražnatović from Podgorica was sentenced today to three months in prison for causing serious bodily injury to journalist Mirko Bošković on the night between September 9 and 10, 2012.
As reported by TV Vijesti, the verdict was handed down in the Basic Court in Podgorica by judge Jelena Pejović, who at the same time acquitted Ražnatović and Draško Mirković of the charges that they committed violent behavior on that occasion, i.e. physically attacked the director of the video for the promotion of LGBT rights Danilo Marunović and the actor Todor Vujošević. .
Explaining the acquittal, the judge said that the court, taking into account the defense of the accused and the witnesses, decided that they contributed to the mentioned event and were injured.
For the defense lawyer, this verdict is expected.
"I can say that we hoped for such a verdict, but we honestly did not expect it, given the great pressure exerted by certain media and some NGOs that deal with the protection of the rights of the LGBT population. However, judge Jelena Pejovć made a legal and fair decision that will, I hope, be confirmed in the High Court. As for the serious physical injury, for which the defendant Ražnatović was convicted, I believe that there is a window for an appeal to the High Court, considering that the serious physical injury was established 40 hours after the event." , defense lawyer Pavle Radonjić told TV Vijesti.
Defense lawyer Pavle Radonjić has announced that he will most likely appeal the part of the verdict sentencing Ražnatović to three months in prison.
"We were hoping for a verdict like this, but we didn't expect it given the great pressure exerted by certain media and some NGOs dealing with the protection of the rights of the LGBT population. However, the judge made a legal and fair decision, which I hope will be confirmed on Regarding the serious bodily injury for which the defendant Ražnatović was sentenced to three months, I believe that there is room for a defense, to appeal to the High Court, given that the serious bodily injury was established 40 hours after the event, so there is room for an appeal ", Radonjic said.
Reaction of Vujošević, Marunović and Bošković
In the joint statement of Todor Vujošević, Danil Marunović and Mirko Bošković on the occasion of the sentencing, it is stated that the epilogue of the court process in this case "sends a clear message to all those who want to re-educate their dissenters with beatings to continue freely and to deal in the same way with all those who blame for "Sodom and Gomorrah, floods and conchites" that befell this nation".
"This process and the decision of judge Jelena Perović suggests to the future batterers - "guardians of sacred family values", that while they beat "the mercenaries of America, the CIA, the Vatican and the gay lobby", in this educational and pedagogical process, they should take care not to cause excessive injuries because in court practice it will be characterized as a serious physical injury, so in that case it might happen that they end up in prison, if they are over 21. Judge Perović's first-instance verdict suggests "slapping, kicking, waiting on portuns" as educational measures and intimidation". Thanks to Judge Perović, the entire event and the court epilogue became a kind of manual for young and ambitious "guardians of tradition", so that they do not get into bigger problems with the law", the announcement states.
They believe that despite everything "justice will be served".
"And we base this belief primarily on the results of Judge Perović, who, not for the first time, discriminates with her first-instance judgments against those who fight for human rights in relation to violent people who limit them in this, which confirms the cancellation of such judgments of hers in socially-controversial but for development the culture of human rights in fundamentally important cases, such as the case of endangering the safety of journalist Olivera Lakić. Judge Perović's results create the impression that the Basic Court in Podgorica does not have the capacity to deal with sensitive processes that are of vital importance for the development of Montenegrin society, but by passing them, obviously absurd and unsustainable, the judgment delegates to higher judicial instances".
"It is important to remind the public that for now the "freed attackers" were on the run for three days after the attack, and that the court did not receive a credible explanation as to why they hid from the judicial authorities for three days, if they were not guilty as Judge Perović judged it. Also , the defense delayed this case and with its inappropriate behavior succeeded, unfortunately, in influencing the change of the judge until it got the judge it wanted and who brought this devastating judgment for the Montenegrin judiciary. We want to believe that the higher courts will look at this objectively the first-instance verdict and that this case will receive an adequate epilogue, which will not only include an effective sanction for the two attackers who have been prosecuted at this stage, but also for those whose names have been withheld since the beginning of the process and who also participated in the attack," the statement reads. Vujošević, Marunović and Bošković.
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