They drank, raised 3 fingers, staggered and fought

The defendants agreed on only one thing, that there was general chaos that night in "Magnificent" and that bottles and glasses were flying in all directions.
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basic court, Photo: Archive "Vijesti"
basic court, Photo: Archive "Vijesti"
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.
Ažurirano: 26.01.2011. 16:32h

Five years after the mass fight in the "Manjifiko" night club and three years after the indictment was filed, the trial of ten defendants began, six of whom are in custody.

Bojan Popović(38), Aleksandar Boričić(34), Nebojša Kažić(38), Saša Ristić(37), Goran Vukčević(31), Fadilj(34) and Fikret(31) Koljenović, Adnan Laličić( 28), Jasmin Škrijelj(32) and Veljko Vučinić.

All of them, except for Fadilj Koljenović, who said that he regretted it, said that they did not feel guilty for the violent behavior they were accused of.

After the mass fight, which took place on 07.12. In 2005, nine people ended up in police custody and one in hospital.

The defendants agreed on only one thing, that there was general chaos that night in "Magnificent" and that bottles and glasses were flying in all directions.

Alcohol is to blame

The main actors of the fight were Vukčević and Fadilj Koljenović. Although, as they said, they reconciled and forgot about the unpleasant events of that evening, and are now hanging out, their versions of the events differ.

"I'm friends with them. We still hang out today. We drank. Alcohol is to blame. It must have been difficult for the security to separate us," said Vukčević.

He said that he "thinks he is not guilty" and that he is trying to forget the incident.

"A tall, dark-skinned guy approached me and spat at me. I told him to go outside and see what the problem was. Punch me, I'm down. A few more came and started kicking me. I was drunk and I don't remember what happened after I fell," said Vukčević, adding that he didn't hear any shots.

The fatal three fingers

The "guy" was Fadilj Koljenović, who described their "meeting" differently. He said that Vukčević, who was standing with another at the next table, at one point raised three fingers.

"I asked him how he was not ashamed to raise three fingers and sit at the table with me," said Koljenović.

He said that the two went outside, that they staggered from drunkenness on the stairs and fell, "and security thought they were fighting".

He told the police after the event and later during the investigation that Popović from security hit his brother Fikret on the head with the handle of a gun, that he threw a bottle at him and that there was a shooting.

When asked by the judge to explain the differences in the statements, he said that he was drunk when he gave the statement to the police, and that the inspectors imposed their opinion on him and pressured him, and he "was under tension".

That's probably how he felt half a year after the event, because he repeated the same before the investigating judge.

“I feel guilty. Why should someone else be responsible now", said Koljenović.

None of the defendants remembers hearing the shooting. The trial will continue in March.

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