Lalatović said he does not regret stabbing the detainee; Bulatović: They told me that he was paid to kill me

Vuk Lalatović (21) from Nikšić does not regret stabbing detainee Miljan Bulatović with an improvised dagger in January of last year.

Detainee Lalatović said this yesterday in the courtroom of the Basic Court of Danilovgrad, in which before judge Sonja Keković he is answerable for inflicting light physical injuries on Bulatović.

He said that he attacked Bulatović because he was afraid that the detainee would hurt him and that he had no reason to regret it.

“I was on the third lap for a walk. I was standing next to the fence and talking to another Igor Koprivica. He was walking past me, I thought he was going to attack me and I wanted to protect myself. I took out a makeshift dagger and stabbed him, I don't know where exactly, because I wasn't paying attention. Then the commanders came and separated us," said Lalatović.

Answering the judge, he said that before that a detainee, whose name he does not know, conveyed Bulatović's threats to him, but also that he made the dagger himself, from the wire he found in the prison room where he was staying.

Bulatović was injured on January 25, 2019, on the walking circuit of the Remand Prison.

In the courtroom yesterday, he denied that he had ever threatened Lalatović in any way, claiming that until the day he was injured - "he had not even heard of that person".

"I was going for a walk and was on the passage between two circles. I raised my hand and called my friend Peko Đikanović, at that moment I saw that someone was moving to attack me. I instinctively raised my hand to protect my head and felt the pain. He stabbed me with something several times, then commander (Velibor) Prodanović ran up and pushed me away," he said.

He said that at that time he did not see that Lalatović was holding something in his hand, only that he swung at his neck.

He asked the prosecutor, Romina Vlahović, why that attempted murder was qualified as causing minor bodily injuries.

"I never heard of him before, nor did I make any threats against him. I have no grudge against anyone and I did not expect anyone to attack me. I join the criminal prosecution and file a property-legal claim in the amount assessed by the court," he said.

Answering the prosecutor's questions, he said that he is aware that many detainees have improvised daggers that they make from forks, spoons, wire...

The judge twice prohibited the question of Lalatović's defense counsel, lawyer Damir Lekić - for Bulatović to say whether he alone or in complicity committed the criminal offense for which he is in the Investigation Prison.

He explained that the answer is important, in order to determine who sent the threats to Lalatović, because the man from Nikšić said that he did not know that person's name, but that he knew that "he was involved in the same criminal act as Bulatović".

The prosecutor, the judge and the injured witness reacted, stressing that it was not proven that Bulatović committed a criminal offense, because the proceedings were not legally concluded.

"A few months after the attack, during a visit, a friend whose name I don't want to say because of his safety, told me that Lalatović was paid to kill me, just as he was paid for the murder in Nikšić," said Bulatović.

Lalatović is suspected of killing Ranko Vuletić on August 1 in Nikšić.

In the courtroom, the medical report on Bulatović's injuries was read and an inspection was made of the improvised dagger and the hoodie that the detainee was wearing when he was stabbed.

Suktinja Keković accepted Lekić's proposal to hear the detainees Đikanović, Koprivica, Dejan Pavićević and Dragan Koprivica as witnesses in the continuation of the trial.

I have been isolated for more than three years

Bulatović, who is in the Investigation Prison due to accusations that he is one of the organizers of the criminal group responsible for the murder of Budva resident Đorđe Boret and Dr. Dragan Zečević, said yesterday that he has been under strict supervision for three years and a month, isolated from all other detainees except for Dejan Pavićević.

"I have no contact with anyone, except him. We are under twenty-four-hour video surveillance in a single room, we walk separately, my visits are separate, and I cannot meet or communicate with any of the detainees who are in the Investigation Prison," he said.

His statement about isolation was confirmed by prison officers Prodanović, Vladan Lučić and Mirko Maraš, who testified yesterday.

They emphasized that Pavićević and Bulatović are alone even when they are on regular and extraordinary walks.

Prison policeman: Lalatović attacked Bulatović

Prison police officer Velibor Prodanović said in the courtroom that Bulatović did not move towards Lalatović, but that it was the opposite.

"I stood on the platform and let Bulatović into the passage towards the circle, staying there to wait for Pavićević. Bulatović raised his left hand towards Đikanović, Lalatović and (Dragan) Koprivica, who were walking in a circle, and asked: 'How are you guys?'. He started to lower his hand, and then Lalatović, who had been standing calmly by the fence with his hands in his pockets, came towards him. I saw that Bulatović instinctively returned his left hand above his head, but also that Lalatović unnaturally hit him with an open fist. I didn't see that he had a dagger at the time," Prodanović said.

He explained that he pushed Bulatović into one circle and Lalatović into the other circle, locked them and returned Pavićević who was coming.

Lučić said that he did not find a dagger during the search of Lalatović, but that he found it in the circle where Bulatović was attacked.