The trial of the defendants for smuggling 18 kilograms of cocaine on the ship "Manjifiko" started anew today in the High Court in Podgorica due to a new criminal panel.
The defendants are Danilo S. Đurović from Serbia, living in Tivat, he is on the run, and Miloš M. Petrić, Srđan S. Pavlović, Đuro R. Perović, Miloš J. Perović, Toni L. Petković and Rade B. Samardžić, all from Tivat, as well as Branimir J. Miletić from Serbia. Today before the court, the witness Maja Đurović exercised her legal right and did not testify because the accused Danilo Đurović is her husband.
The witness Božidar Božović stated that he knows that the defendants Rade Samardžić and Srđan Pavlović took a loan in the amount of 100.000 euros.
He stated that Samardžić bought a motorbike from someone with that money, while Pavlović bought an "Audi S" vehicle for 19.000 euros from Petković.
The defenders of the defendants Petković and Pavlović, lawyers Ratko Pantović and Dejan Klikovac, proposed the abolition of detention, which the court refused.
The defense also proposed to provide evidence, by preserving the fact that the accused Pavlović did not get off the ship "Manjifiko" on January 24, 2019 in the port of Cartagena, Colombia.
"The shipping company MSC has confirmed that there is such information or evidence, but that it will be provided only at the request of the High Court in Podgorica," said lawyer Pantović. He added that it was for this reason that he asked for the provision of this evidence, because there is a danger that, over time, it will be deleted from the company's software.
Before the special panel chaired by judge Nada Rabrenović, the defendants Miloš Petrić, Srđan Pavlović, Đuro and Miloš Perović, Toni Petković and Rade Samardžić repeated their earlier defense today and declared that they are not guilty of smuggling cocaine by ship from South America. Denied the commission of a criminal offense as well as membership in a criminal group whose alleged organizer is Danilo Đurović, who is on the run. Branimir Miletić, who is also on the run, was also charged.
Srđan Pavlović stood by the statement he gave to the prosecutor, and that it was mostly fabrications and half-truths.
"I didn't throw any drugs near Verigo," Pavlović said then. According to the indictment, Đurović committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization, that he formed a criminal organization in Colombia and Montenegro at the end of December 2018.
The other defendants are accused of creating a criminal organization, that is, of being members of a criminal organization, as well as two unknown members from Colombia, for the purpose of smuggling cocaine from South America to Montenegro.
Danilo Đurović and Srđan Pavlović are also accused of the criminal offense of unauthorized production and distribution of narcotic drugs from Article 300 paragraph 2, while Petrić, Perović Đuro, Miletić, Samardžić and Petković are accused of the criminal offense of unauthorized production and distribution of narcotic drugs from Article 300 paragraph 1.
The trial continues on October 12.
Bonus video:
