No state body in Montenegro officially knows where the convicted head of the Budva criminal group Svetozar Marović is, and it seems that no one is actively looking for him, although his lawyer has repeatedly announced that he is being treated in a Belgrade hospital.
The Ministry of Justice told "Vijesti" that they were not competent, the High Court in Podgorica referred to the Basic Court in Kotor, and the president of that court, Branko Vučković, did not answer the question of where Marović is or when he will come to serve his sentence.
The international warrant for Marović was issued by the Interpol office in Podgorica, by order of the Kotor Basic Court in May of this year.
According to regulations and established practice, after receiving a warrant, the police of the state where Marović is located should find him, arrest him and inform the Montenegrin police or the Kotor court about it, an expert on such procedures told "Vijesta" that he wanted to remain anonymous.
"The Serbian police can find a person on a warrant as part of their regular activities - during random identity checks or crossing the border, for example - or by checking operational data on the location of that person, which they receive from the Montenegrin police," said the interlocutor to "Vijesti".
It is not clear if it is, and if it is not, why the Montenegrin police did not inform their colleagues from Serbia where Marović is, if his lawyer has been announcing his alleged location for a long time. The Montenegrin police have publicly announced several times that the police asked others to verify the locations of the persons they are looking for, as in the case of Safet Kalić, and boasted that some wanted persons were arrested abroad based on their operational data.
Lawyer Zdravko Begović told "Vijesta" that the former high-ranking DPS official has been receiving hospital treatment in Belgrade for a year.
"More precisely, he is currently in the Institute for Mental Health in Belgrade," answered Begović when asked by "Vijesti" where his client is.
Vučković did not answer whether he contacted anyone from other countries about the extradition of Marović to the competent authorities of Montenegro.
The Montenegrin Interpol office did not respond to "Vijesta" either. The Serbian Ministry of Justice did not respond to "Vijesti" questions.
"On May 12, 2017, an order was issued to issue a warrant for the convicted Svetozar Marović and it was delivered the same day to the Police Directorate - Kotor Security Department, for execution, in accordance with Article 511 paragraph 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure," answered Vučković.
"On June 1, 2017, this court was informed by the Police Administration, Criminal Police Sector Podgorica, that an international warrant was issued for the convicted person Marović Svetozar on May 18.05.2017, XNUMX. by NCB Interpol Podgorica".
The expert with whom "Vijesti" spoke said that after the Serbian police inform their Montenegrin colleagues that Marović has been located and arrested, the Ministry of Justice should request his extradition from the Ministry of Justice of Serbia within 18 days and deliver the verdict by which he was convicted. .
"It should run smoothly, because Marović was sentenced with finality, and that verdict is recognized in Serbia," said the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
Based on two agreements with the Special State Prosecutor's Office, Marović was sentenced to four years and three months in prison because he was the head of a criminal group that damaged the Budva municipality's budget by tens of millions of euros in eight corruption scandals. According to the judgment of the High Court, he should pay a fine of 100.000 euros, and return to the Municipality of Budva a million euros, which the prosecution estimated that he personally pocketed.
His son Miloš was also sentenced to a year in prison and a fine of 385 euros after pleading guilty, because he was part of a criminal group that participated in embezzlement related to the sale of 27.000 square meters of municipal land in the industrial zone of Jaza, which damaged the municipal coffers. for 1,4 million euros.
Begović could not answer the question when Marović will come to Montenegro to serve his sentence.
"Regarding the possible arrival of Svetozar Marović in Montenegro, I can tell you that his current state of health is such that he is unable to leave the hospital, since he is prescribed certain therapy and daily supervision by specialist doctors, so his state of health determines the moment when he would was capable of serving a prison sentence according to the verdict of the High Court in Podgorica", said Begović.
Minister of Justice Zoran Pažin said in April this year that Svetozar and Miloš Marović will serve their prison sentences in Montenegro.
"As the Minister of Justice, I will not allow any abuse of rights," said Pažin.
The convicted head of a criminal group will not pay 1,1 million euros
Marović has no intention of paying the million euros to the municipality of Budva that he illegally acquired.
His lawyer Zdravko Begović said that Marović has not yet paid the amount of one million euros in the name of illegally obtained property benefits.
"But the same amount will be settled by activating the mortgage on real estate that represents a means of security, so on that basis his obligation to pay the obligation of one million euros has ended. The value of the mentioned immovable properties was assessed by a group of experts appointed by the Special Prosecutor's Office, which absolutely rules out the doubt that the value of the pledged immovable properties is less than the amount of one million euros. Moreover, in the opinion of the defense of the convicted Svetozar Marović, the value of those properties is more than one million euros," said Begović.
Marović did not even pay a fine of 100.000 euros, which is why he will serve a year longer than he was sentenced.
"The convicted SM did not pay the fine to which he was sentenced by the judgment of this court, so the court issued a decision replacing the imposed fine with a prison sentence in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Code of Montenegro," the High Court explained earlier.
"It is the defendant's right to choose whether or not to pay," said Begović.
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