Montenegro requested the extradition of Veselin Vukotić

The Ministry of Justice has requested the extradition of the controversial Veselin-Vesko Vukotić (50) from Nikšić, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for the murder of sea captain Duško Bošković, almost 14 years ago in Kotor.

This information was confirmed to "Vijesti" by the head of the Cabinet of the Minister of Justice, Nikola Saranović.

Vukotić, who received Serbian citizenship in a Belgian prison in 2008, has for years been linked to the Serbian secret service, whose hired killer he allegedly was.

The whole confusion regarding his extradition started back in 2008, when after his arrest in Spain, he was serving a prison sentence in Belgium.

Due to two active warrants - Serbian and Montenegrin, of which Vukotić was a citizen at that moment, the authorities in Belgium decided to extradite him to Serbia, and that is because of the completion of the criminal proceedings related to the murder of Andrija Lakonić, in the Novi Sad discotheque "Nana" in 1991.

By mistake behind bars

Despite the fact that a multi-year sentence was sought in Montenegro, as several informed interlocutors explained to "Vijesta" at the time, the unwritten rule is that the country of which he is not a citizen has priority in extradition.

That was also the case in this case, and only a month later, when the details regarding this dangerous fugitive were agreed upon, he received Serbian citizenship in the prison there and thereby secured himself from extradition to Montenegro. "News" was then told by the Montenegrin police that shortly after being extradited to Serbia, Vukotić was released from custody due to a lack of evidence and thus became a stumbling block between the official Podgorica and Belgrade.

Montenegro is looking for Vukotić in order to serve his sentence for the attempted murder of RG from Nikšić back in 1986 in Nikšić

A new round of fighting between the authorities in Serbia and Montenegro in the case of Vukotić started again after the signing of the Agreement between the two countries on the extradition of their citizens, because Vukotić was one of the priority fugitives wanted by our country.

Vukotić, as "Vijesti" has unofficially learned, ended up behind bars by mistake at the end of December 2010.

He was arrested in Novi Sad based on an Interpol warrant issued for him by Montenegro, but was released after a hearing by the investigating judge of the High Court in Novi Sad.

Then it was allegedly established that it was a mistake, because the warrant should have been withdrawn from the Interpol system due to the "transfer of the case" to Serbia.

His lawyer Zdenko Tomanović said on that occasion that he cannot be extradited to Montenegro. He recalled that Belgium extradited Vukotić to Serbia in December 2008, on the condition that Serbia try him again for the murder of Bošković in Kotor.

In crime since the eighties

Deputy Minister of Justice Branka Lakočević told "Vijesti" earlier that information was requested from colleagues in Belgrade about what happened to Vukotić's case, but that the case was not handed over to them.

"After signing the agreement on the extradition of our citizens, we asked Serbia for information about Vukotić, and with that request we also sent them a copy of the case file, but no consent for his surrender," she explained.

Montenegro is looking for Vukotić in order to serve his sentence for the attempted murder of RG from Nikšić back in 1986 in Nikšić.

Vukotić's criminal record, according to Serbian media, began to be filled with criminal acts as early as the XNUMXs.

Belgrade's "Novosti" recently announced that "mafia circles in Montenegro were preparing the liquidation of Vukotić as soon as he was extradited to Podgorica" ​​because he is allegedly a valuable witness in connection with tobacco smuggling

He was an associate of the Serbian secret police, for which he carried out tasks of "highest state interest" in Europe.

He was then suspected of killing Enver Hadriju, who was in a diplomatic car, with two shots from a pistol in Brussels in 1990.

The murder caused a lot of attention because Hadriju allegedly had with him a list with the names of 32 people who were killed by the Serbian police during the "pro-democracy" demonstrations in Kosovo. Because of this crime, Vukotić was arrested 16 years later at the Madrid airport.

A valuable witness?

He was arrested with a fake Croatian passport, the registration number of which is one higher than the passport of Croatian general Anto Gotovina.

The media in Spain then reported that along with Vukotić, Andrija Lakonić and Darko Ašanin participated in the murder of Hadrije.

Both were later killed, and it was Vukotić who was suspected of killing Lakonić in the Novi Sad discotheque "Nana" in 1991.

Belgrade's "Novosti" recently announced that "mafia circles in Montenegro were preparing the liquidation of Vukotić as soon as he was extradited to Podgorica" ​​because he is allegedly a valuable witness in connection with tobacco smuggling.

In this context, he was previously mentioned by Montenegrin businessman Ratko Knežević as a person who was allegedly offered to liquidate the editor of "national" Ivo Pukanić, but the man from Nikšić refused.

The trial in Novi Sad has not been scheduled

The judge of the High Court in Novi Sad, Svetlana Tomić-Jokić, told "Vijesta" last night that she has not yet set a date for the start of the retrial of Vukotić in the case she assigned around the New Year.

"The case is currently with the Extrajudicial Chamber, which should rule on the prosecution's request to order Vukotić into custody. When I receive the decision of the Extrajudicial Council on detention or the possibility of Vukotić defending himself from freedom, I will schedule a trial," she said in a telephone conversation, stating that she had heard about the Montenegrin request for extradition from the media.

Judge Tomić-Jokić also explained that she received a decision from the Supreme Court of Serbia for the retrial of the murder case in Kotor, according to which the High Court in Novi Sad is competent for the trial.

The dispatch is still traveling to Belgrade

The Ministry of Justice of Serbia announced that it has not yet received the request of the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro for the extradition of Veselin Vukotić.

The Ministry of Justice of Serbia was informed by the Montenegrin media about the submission of the application for the extradition of Vukotić to Montenegro, according to the statement. The Ministry of Justice of Serbia pointed out that, if it receives a request for extradition, it will refer it for consideration to the competent court in Novi Sad, which is the only one authorized to decide on the request for extradition of Vukotić.