Radoslav Gile Stanišić ordered a series of burnings of "Vijesti" vehicles, and that task was carried out by then minor DM and SP, claim unofficially from the Police Administration.
Stanišić is on the run and the police are looking for him earlier, and the other two were arrested the night before last and questioned yesterday at the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica. According to unofficial information from Vijesti, both were polygraphed and "failed" all questions related to the ignition of Vijesti's vehicle.
The same source claims that, after that, one of them first confessed to the police and then to the prosecutor when, how and on whose order they destroyed Vijesti's cars.
"After his interrogation, the night before last, around two hours after midnight, the second suspect was also arrested, and the police searched the house of Radoslav Stanišić, who is on the run, in the same operation," said the interlocutor of Vijesti.
Representatives of the police and the local prosecutor's office officially announced that after almost nine years, they have shed light on the crimes committed against "Vijesti".
They specified that three cases were solved - from July and August 2011 and one case from February 2014, in which a total of five vehicles of the independent diary were damaged and destroyed.
However, they did not answer the key questions - what new evidence was provided that led to the arrest, what was the motive for the attack on the newspaper's property, is it possible that the minors did such a professional job that it took nine years for the investigators to establish at least part of the facts ...
Answering some of those questions, prosecutor Miroslav Turković said that the Podgorica prosecutor's office formed the case immediately after the car was set on fire and that in cooperation with the police, they undertook procedural actions in the form of expert reports, obtaining data from telecommunication operators...
"In the same way, those operational actions were undertaken, which now resulted in the collection of a sufficient number of facts and evidence of such quality that they enabled us to reach a conclusion on the existence of grounds for suspicion regarding the identity of the persons who committed this criminal offense and to issue an order for their deprivation of liberty... This action lasts a long period of time, and what we have now is the result of the evaluation of all the evidence individually and their mutual dependence", said Turković during an online press conference.
When asked whether they had determined the motive for the attack on Vijesti's property, he answered: "We have certain knowledge, we have not finished the investigation, it is still ongoing." Our further research will go towards that goal and we can certainly talk about it when we have more information".
The State Prosecutor of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica heard two persons who are suspected of having committed a criminal offense against the property of ND Vijesti... causing general danger", announced the spokeswoman of that prosecution, prosecutor Milica Mandić
The head of the Podgorica Security Center, Milovan Pavićević, explained that two people were arrested late the night before last night, and that one is being sought - those suspected of being the direct perpetrators are charged with the criminal offense of causing general danger, and the alleged instigator - causing general danger through incitement.
"The realization of these police-prosecutor activities after almost nine years is a confirmation of the commitment and perseverance of the institutions to prevent and shed light on crimes committed to the detriment of journalists and media property. By shedding light on these crimes and prosecuting the perpetrators, we once again confirm how important the safety of journalists, media property and the creation of an overall positive security environment for the professional work of media workers and respect for the journalistic profession in its full capacity is to us," he said.
Miloš Vučinić, the head of criminal investigation in the Podgorica police, said that this three-member group caused four serious crimes in an organized and coordinated manner. "It is suspected that on July 14 and 23, 2011, then on August 27, 2011, as well as on February 13, 2014, they set fire to passenger motor vehicles owned by ND Vijesti, which were located on Revolucije Boulevard and Goca Delčevo and Car Lazar streets in Podgorica".
Only the policeman was convicted
So far, only policeman Veseljko Vračar has been sentenced for setting fire to the car of an independent newspaper - to two months in prison and a fine of 2.683 euros for dereliction of duty, because he allowed the car to be set on fire in February 2014.
The higher court in Podgorica confirmed the verdict of judge Larisa Mijušković Stamatović, who convicted Vračar of abuse of official position, for which a prison sentence of six months to five years was threatened.
In the High Court, they claimed that the judge correctly assessed the guilt, but also reduced the sentence to the defendant due to his previous lack of conviction and the fact that he is the father of minor children.
At the end of the trial, the prosecution abandoned the criminal prosecution of the other accused police officer, Miloš Sekulić, due to a lack of evidence.
The judge, explaining the verdict, pointed out that it was established beyond dispute that the car was set on fire during Vračar's shift, as well as that the witness Milovan Đurišić confirmed the defense of Sekulić, that he handed Vračar his shift that evening.
One of the founders of Vijesti, Željko Ivanović, also said during that procedure that the police used the last burning car as a bait to uncover previous attacks on "Vijesti" property.
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Back in February 2012, the Podgorica police searched the houses of a dozen members of the Zagorica gang due to the suspicion that, as it was said at the time, they were connected to many criminal acts, and some of them to the burning of the "Vijesti" car. After the pompous action and arrest, however, "only" three guns were found, so criminal charges were filed against the same number of people for illegal possession of weapons...
Bojanić: Attacks ordered from power centers
The executive director of Vijesti, Marijana Bojanić, reminded yesterday that this independent newspaper has survived dozens of attacks over a period of ten years, and that almost none of them have been revealed, especially when it comes to the principals.
"We are happy to find the persons who ordered and carried out the heinous attack on the property of Vijesti. The fact that the perpetrators were minors at the time - confirms our long-standing claims that the goal of the investigation should be first and foremost to find the perpetrators, as well as their motives. We expect more details when it comes to the motives of the alleged mastermind. We claimed then and we repeat now that the only motive for the attacks on our property and employees can be related to our professional and independent work, and that all these attacks were the result of retaliation from certain power centers.
We remind you that our independent newspaper has survived dozens of attacks over a period of ten years and that almost none of them have been covered, especially when we talk about the principals. Starting with the attack on Željko Ivanovic and Mladen Stojović, through Tufik Softić, the bomb under the window of the then editor-in-chief Mihajl Jovović, to the wounding of journalist Olivera Lakić, the last of which was an attempted murder.
We are sure that all these attacks, even these arsons, could not have been ordered by any individual and criminal, whatever his name, without first having a signal, if not a direct order from some center of power, to organize and realize such a crime. Therefore, with full support for the investigative authorities to continue investigating these and other attacks on our people and property, we ask them not to rush to conclusions and not to consider any of these cases solved until convincing evidence shows the real motives and real instigators of these attacks ", announced Bojanic.
Marković: There will be no backing down in the fight against all those who threaten journalists
Prime Minister Duško Marković said yesterday that he welcomes the elucidation of the criminal acts of setting fire to the "Vijesti" vehicle from 2011 and 2014.
"There will be no backing down in the fight against all those who threaten journalists, the media and their property, no matter how long it takes to uncover them! "Congratulations to the police that, with their dedicated work, they managed to find the evidence and discover the perpetrators and the mastermind, even though the evidence is usually destroyed in such events," said Marković.
The announcement of the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro that two people were involved in the burning of the Vijesti vehicle is a great encouragement... This is a step towards the right path, while we wait to find out who is the organizer of the attack", wrote on her Twitter profile the US ambassador to Montenegro, Džudi The Rising of the Rhine
Who is to blame for the bombing
The Prosecutor's Office has not yet revealed who carried out and ordered the bomb attack on the "Vijesti" editorial office almost seven years ago.
On the night of December 26, 2013, an explosive was detonated under the window of the then editor-in-chief of Vijesti.
Marko Šofranac and Nemanja Vukmirović from Podgorica, the only defendants, were legally acquitted of the charges in June 2016.
The Higher Court in Podgorica upheld the decision of Podgorica Basic Court judge Nenad Vujanović, who twice acquitted them of the charge of placing 400 grams of explosives on the building under the office window of the then editor-in-chief of "Vijesti" Mihail Jovović.
In January 2014, Prime Minister Milo Đukanović said in January XNUMX that state structures were involved in the case, but he was never heard by the prosecutor's office to say what specific information he had about it.
Đukanović said at the final pre-election meeting of the DPS in Ulcinj that with explosive attacks like the one on "Vijesti" they want to do damage to Montenegro and that not only criminals, who are hired for these needs, like everywhere else, were involved in these actions. "rather, it would be said that there are various interests, whose identification we are carefully working on".
Has the statute of limitations run out?
The President of the Commission for Monitoring Investigations of Attacks on Journalists, Nikola Marković, said that he welcomed the efforts made to shed light on the burning of Vijesti's vehicle, but pointed out that for him those cases will be brought to light when they are legally concluded.
"Until then, everything is only in the realm of the possible and potential. I especially emphasize this, because as the president of the Commission, I received a document from the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office on March 19, 2018... which states that the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution in cases of burning of Vijesti vehicles from 2011 will begin in 2019. . Therefore, it has already occurred... That's why it is very important for the prosecution to explain whether the statute of limitations has been interrupted by their possible actions in this case and according to specific persons, because the Commission for Attacks on Journalists from 2018 to today has no data that the prosecution dealt with these persons. Maybe it is, but we have not been informed, that is why it is very important that the prosecution answers those questions to the public, the Commission and the newsroom of Vijesti".
Marković assessed that this is very important: "If we bear in mind that some earlier cases, when it comes to attacks on people from Vijesta, were solved by people either falsely testifying or falsely admitting to the commission of a criminal offense, which was determined by the court in one from the attack on Olivera Lakić, as well as in the case of the attack on Željko Ivanović, where we saw that people were convicted, that they confessed to that crime, although it is completely clear that they had nothing to do with it. In order not to arouse suspicion and so that this does not happen again, I publicly invite the prosecution to explain these facts from the document that it sent to the Commission on March 19, 2018".
"Of course, if it turns out that the prosecution worked properly and that the statute of limitations has been broken, then there is no obstacle for these people to continue to be criminally prosecuted, which would make me, as the president of the Commission and a long-time journalist, really happy because it would mean that the most difficult cases are attacked on our colleagues they are starting to successfully solve".
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