"Stijepović did not know that the money was dirty"

There is no evidence in the files of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) that Slavoljub Stijepović knew that the money handed over to him by Duško Knežević in October 2016 was obtained through criminal activity, nor is there any evidence that he committed the criminal offense of money laundering as an accomplice.

This was stated in the Podgorica High Court, in the decision by which they suspended the criminal proceedings against the former mayor of Podgorica, in the "envelope" case.

After consideration of the SDT indictment, the decision was made by the panel presided over by Judge Radomir Ivanović, whose members include Branka Bošković and Sonja Cvjetićanin Ognjenović.

The same decision confirmed, however, the indictment against Duško Knežević for creating a criminal organization, as well as against Branislav Todorović, Živko Šljivančanin, Tamara Krdžić, Goran Grujović and Tomica Knežević, for the same criminal offense and for money laundering as a co-perpetrator.

In the explanation of the decision, the Judicial Council emphasizes that the criminal offense - money laundering in complicity (Art. 268 paragraph 3 in connection with paragraph 1 in connection with Article 23 paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code), which Stijepović is charged with, can only be committed with direct intent, but that it cannot be concluded from the file that the defendant had awareness and will to commit the crime...

"According to the position of this court, the subjective elements of the defendant Stijepović Slavoljub are absent because there is no evidence in the state of the files that at the time of receiving the money from Knežević Duško in October 2016, he knew or could have known that this money was obtained through his criminal activities, nor there is evidence that he committed the act as a co-perpetrator, i.e. that he purposefully realized a joint decision, or significantly contributed to the realization of a joint decision that the money was acquired through the criminal activity of an organized criminal group organized by Knežević Duško", the court said.

They also state that none of the other defendants mention Stijepović in their defenses: "Not even in the form of acquaintance, let alone in the form of realizing a common intention to commit the criminal offense of money laundering, and he claims that he does not know any of the defendants except Knežević Duško."

SDT can appeal against that part of the decision, and yesterday the institution did not reply to Vijesti whether they would do so.

THE ACCUSATION

The indictment was brought after the scandal that Knežević opened in January 2019, with the publication of a video in which he handed over an envelope to Stijepović before the 2016 election, explaining that it contained 97.000 euros.

In the indictment, however, it is written that the businessman handed Stijepović "only" 47.500 euros, after his associates converted 110.000 dollars into euros. In that act, it is stated that in the second half of 2010, Knežević created a criminal group whose members were in charge of withdrawing money obtained from the illegal activities of several companies, and then handing it over to him in order to put it into legal channels.

"Duško Knežević determined for himself the role of the organizer, he gave instructions to the members - who carried out the conversion of money and then handed it over to him, as testified by the head of general affairs at Atlas Bank, Vlatko Rašović, who received the status of an associate witness. Rašović accepted Knežević's proposal to perform the function of an authorized person in companies that were formed or will be formed due to the realization of a criminal plan - he withdraws the money and hands it over to the organizer. Accused Tomica Knežević accepted that he withdraws money originating from criminal activity, i.e. illegal business of legal entities, from their accounts and hands it over to the organizer of the criminal organization. The accused Šljivančanin, acting on the instructions received from the organizer Duško Knežević, performed the conversion of money originating from criminal activity and drew up the necessary documents. The defendants Grujović and Krdžić accepted that after the conversion of money originating from criminal activities, they would prepare the necessary documents so that everything would appear legal during regular checks by state authorities," the indictment submitted by the SDT to the court reads.

It is stated that all members of that group knew that the money was obtained through criminal activity.

"Knežević... had previously taken part of the money from Rašović, Tomica Knežević and Andrej Kononenko in October 2016 and handed it over to the defendant Slavoljub Stijepović in order to put it into circulation - legal flows, in order to use that money for parliamentary elections," it is stated in to the same act.

It is explained that Stijepović asked Knežević to change the money to the euro currency, after which on October 12, 2016, in order to realize the criminal plan, he instructed Rašović to take $110.000 from Stijepović and take it to Atlas Bank.

"Rašović handed over 97.500 euros to Duško Knežević, who then handed over 47.500 euros from that money to Slavoljub Stijepović in his family home. Then Slavoljub Stijepović handed over to Spas Popović, the president of the DPS Board Golubovci, which was distributed to the DPS Zeta activists for the operational costs of the work of the local committees and the costs of the activists in the election campaign for the parliamentary elections in October 2016," the indictment states. .

"Everyone saw that he took 97.000 euros"

Duško Knežević's defense announced yesterday that the court's decision was preceded by an illegal hearing on February 18, which was not attended by the defendant's defense attorneys.

"Even though my colleague Nemanja Jolović and I properly informed the court about the legally acceptable reasons for our non-appearance", lawyer Zdravko Đukanović announced yesterday.

He noted that the SDT and the High Court in Podgorica are still in a panic-stricken hurry to make illegal decisions, "by which they release their political comrades and henchmen, and raise and confirm indictments against persons against whom they conducted and continue to carry out political persecution.

"The entire Montenegrin and international public could clearly see the video on which Slavoljub Stjepović takes the sum of 97.000 euros from Duško Knežević, for the purposes of the DPS. After that, the SDT, on the order of the chief special prosecutor Milivoj Katnić, starts putting pressure on the drivers of Duško Knežević to admit that they converted money for the needs of the Democratic Front, which they refuse to admit, because it is a notorious lie. Also, Milivoje Katnić gives an order for the SDT to accuse Duško Knežević of organizing a criminal group, and that criminal group functions as follows: "Duško Knežević gives an order to the members of the group to take his money for the needs of the DPS", said Đukanović.

He reminded that such a "senseless claim" passed the control of the SDT and the High Court in Podgorica.

"The higher court in Podgorica went a step further and assessed that Slavoljub Stjepović does not have any criminal responsibility. Such a statement is against the law, morality and the rules of common sense".

The lawyer announced that he will file an appeal with the Constitutional Court.

"But we are aware of the reality that Milivoje Katnić and President of the Higher Court in Podgorica Boris Savić personally and through their henchmen are causing great damage to the Montenegrin judiciary".

Yesterday, the Special State Prosecutor's Office did not respond to Vijesti's questions - whether they will appeal part of the decision of the High Court, which suspended the proceedings against Slavoljub Stijepović"...

Court: He could not have known that Knežević was involved in crime

For the court, it is written in the decision, Stijepović's defense that Knežević was also known as a successful businessman in October 2016 is completely acceptable and convincing, so, as they claim, the objective question is whether the defendant should and could have known that this businessman EUR 47.500 acquired through criminal activity.

"Because Stijepović Slavoljub could not derive such knowledge from any objectively verifying criteria whether Knežević Duško engaged in criminal activity in October 2016 and whether his money was acquired from that activity, because even the state authorities did not know about this fact in that period authorities that in Montenegro were in charge of monitoring the operations of all economic entities managed by the defendant Knežević Duško", the court's decision reads.

MANS: To review whether Katnić is criminally responsible

MANS called on Katnić to publish the complete documentation from the investigation in the "envelope" case, on the basis of which the indictment for Stijepović was written. "Because it is of indisputable public interest to determine how it was rejected", states the statement signed by the director of the Research Center of the non-governmental organization Dejan Milovac.

He assessed that the decision of the High Court represents a new defeat of the Montenegrin judiciary and another in a series of evidence that it is politicized: "To the extent that even concrete evidence is not enough to prosecute obvious corruption in Montenegro."

"After the video that we all had the opportunity to see, there is little room for doubt that at least Stijepović can avoid being prosecuted, when the special state prosecutor did not even consider the possibility of prosecuting his colleagues from DPS as possible principals, what was quite certain handover of money from black funds ahead of the then elections".

Milovac added that by the decision of the SDT, Stijepović was still accused of money laundering, but that despite everything, their act could not be held before the judicial authorities.

"What is obvious is the fact that we have another procedure from which any responsibility of DPS officials has been surgically removed, which is a practice that SDT has been nurturing for years," he said.

He reminded that the public was never informed of what happened to the suspicious donations to DPS from Konik, nor did the SDT open an investigation after the public confession of the president of that party, Milo Đukanović, that his party received donations that were not reported to the competent authorities.

"All of the above points to the need for the immediate resignation of Katnić, due to the continuous disastrous results in the fight against corruption at the highest level, but also due to the suspicion that political calculations are an integral part of his actions. The case of Stijepović, and the obvious evidence that existed for his accusation, point to the need to review not only the disciplinary, but also the criminal responsibility of the SDT for the handling of this case," Milovac pointed out.