The beginning of the repeated trial in the "coup d'état" case, which was scheduled for today in the High Court in Podgorica, was postponed to September 5 due to the request for the disqualification of the prosecutor Saša Čađenović.
The request was submitted today by the defense attorneys of Democratic Front leaders Andrije Mandić and Milan Knežević, lawyers Dušan Radosavljević and Miroje Jovanović.
The lawyers referred to the statement of the lawyer Toby Cadman from London who represented Jozef Assad, who was pressured at the meeting with Čađenović, former chief special prosecutor Milivoj Katnić and the then Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Pažin.
"They gave him a list of questions and possible answers for Assad to answer, and to accuse Knežević and Mandić," said Radosavljević.
The request was accepted by the accused Bratislav Dikić and Branka Milić.
The leaders of the Democratic Front Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević, as well as the defendant Bratislav Dikić and their lawyers, entered the court shortly before nine o'clock.
It was previously scheduled for March 28 and postponed due to the non-arrival of Dikić.
In February 2021, the Appellate Court of Montenegro annulled the first-instance verdict that convicted Mandić and Knežević, as well as two Russian citizens, the former commander of the Serbian gendarmerie Bratislav Dikić, because the verdict contained significant violations of the provisions of the criminal procedure.
Mandić and Knežević were then sentenced to five years in prison each, for membership in a criminal organization since February 2016. The goal of the criminal organization, which was created by Russian citizens Eduard Šišmakov and Vladimir Popov, was to clash with the Montenegrin police and forcibly occupy the Parliament of Montenegro on the day of the parliamentary elections on October 16, 2016, with the help of the Democratic Front, and to kidnap and kill them. the then Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Đukanović.
For the criminal acts of creating a criminal organization and attempted terrorism, Šišmakov was sentenced to a single sentence of 15 years in prison, and Popov to three years less. The verdict stated that they acted with direct intent.
Citizen of Serbia, general and former commander of the gendarmerie, Bratislav Dikić was sentenced to a single sentence of eight years in prison for the crimes of terrorism in an attempt by aiding and abetting a criminal organization. Predrag Bogićević and Nemanja Ristić were each sentenced to seven years in prison for the same criminal acts. Branka Milić was sentenced to three years in prison, Dragan Maksić to one year and nine months, while Srboljub Đorđević and Milan Dušić were sentenced to one year and six months each. Kristina Hristić was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years if she does not repeat the crime, starting from the day it becomes final.
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