From the Government Duško Marković in the end, it depended on who would get the apartment, that is, the money to solve the housing issue, and the Commission for Housing Issues only gave recommendations.
This was explained yesterday, among other things, to the special prosecutor Vukas Radonjić, during the hearing of officials of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Predrag Bošković, Suad Numanovića i Dragice Sekulić, suspected of illegally giving apartments to privileged persons from all three branches of government.
The Special State Prosecutor's Office suspects that Bošković, as president, and the others as members of the Commission, made decisions on solving the housing needs of officials contrary to the regulations and thus obtained material benefits for others exceeding 30.000 euros.
Shortly after 8:XNUMX a.m. yesterday, in front of special prosecutor Radonjić, he denied guilt, presented his defense and refused to answer questions.
The same was done by Numanović and Sekulić, who were heard at 11 a.m. and 13 p.m., respectively.
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According to the information of "Vijesti", Bošković told the prosecutor that the fund for apartments and loans was not in the hands of the Commission, that they did not give money, but submitted a recommendation to the Government, after which the executive authority decided...
"This is political pressure"
Yesterday, Bošković told journalists that it was political pressure that was intended to be exerted on him and his colleagues and the political group to which they belong, and not an illegal act.
He pointed out that the first criminal complaint regarding the allocation of apartments was initiated before the parliamentary elections in 2020 and that after the elections the SDT rejected it as unfounded:
"For two years, nothing happened about it. In the run-up to the local elections in 2022, the outgoing prime minister took the case out of mothballs for the sake of his political points and started the story again, supported by certain media, in order to achieve, as I said, political benefits for himself and his party".
He accused Abazović of starting that story "at a time when a web was woven around him and his criminal activities related to tobacco smuggling."
"In order to divert the topic and enter the elections with another topic, which can bring him a certain political benefit".
His defense attorney, a lawyer Zoran Piperović, said that Bošković completely denied committing the crime, explained what the procedure was, what the Commission did, and what the Government did.
Numanović did not want to answer the journalists' questions, and his legal representative, a lawyer Mikhail Volkov, said that he expects the prosecutor to dismiss the criminal charges after the hearing.
He also questioned the fact that "the process of questioning suspects started a week before the elections".
Volkov assessed that the criminal complaint is flat and arbitrary, that it does not even specify which of the three actions provided for by the law, they were charged with.
"We worked legally"
Dragica Sekulić did not want to answer the journalists' questions either.
Her legal representative, a lawyer Nikola Martinovic, said that Sekulić was interrogated based on the report submitted by the Government, and signed by the Prime Minister in a technical mandate:
"Due to accusations that they abused their official position by assigning apartments to officials and officials who were employees of the Government of Montenegro. Dragica Sekulić, as a member of the Commission, announced that she has an unresolved housing issue, that she never received any benefit from that Commission, or benefited anyone, caused damage to the Government... That she, in that Commission, behaved in accordance with politics Government - that the housing issues of all employees in the state apparatus are resolved and that all decisions of the Commission were, in fact, decisions of the Government of Montenegro".
Martinović also said that his client told the prosecutor that all decisions were made legally, and that there is evidence of this in the government.
At the end of last week, the news announced that the SDT suspects the officials of Marković's government that they caused multimillion-dollar damage to the state by allocating apartments and housing loans.
The list of suspects also includes an official of the Social Democrats, Ivan Brajović and former chief of staff of the president of the state and former consul in Sremski Karlovci, Drazen Milickovic. The two received a summons to report to the prosecutor today. A hearing is scheduled for June 7 Damir Šehović (SD), Budimir the apprentice (DPS) and Osman Nurković (BS).
The case in which they are suspected was formed after the Government Dritan Abazović at the end of last year, filed a criminal complaint against several officials of the former government, who were suspected of causing multimillion-dollar damage to the state by abusing their official position when granting housing loans.
In April 2023, Abazović submitted an amendment to the criminal complaint to the SDT.
The Government's criminal complaint states that the former president and members of the Commission damaged the state for 1.823.000 euros by distributing housing loans to over a hundred prosecutors, judges, deputies, ministers and other civil servants from 2016 to the end of 2020. functionary. It is stated that the Commission made decisions on the granting of loans contrary to the provision of the Article of the Decision, which stipulates that an official can be granted a loan "for the improvement of housing conditions up to 15.000 euros".
With their decisions, the former president of the Constitutional Court got the apartments. Dragoljub Drasković, (109 square meters for 24.290 euros), former special prosecutor arrested on suspicion of working for the blacksmith clan Sasa Cadjenovic (89 square meters for 18.576 euros), special prosecutor Lidija Vukčević (75 square meters for 15.653 euros), former ministers Šehović (89 square meters for 22.922 euros), Nurković (exchange of a 60-square-meter apartment for a 90-square-meter apartment with an additional payment of 4.610 euros)...
The list of officials to whom the Commission allegedly distributed loans outside the decision on the method and criteria for solving the housing needs of officials included the former Supreme State Prosecutor Ivica Stankovic, former President of the Supreme Court Vesna Medenica, former president of the Commercial Court Blazo Jovanić, Deputy Prime Minister and leader and former deputy of the Bosniak Party Ervin Ibrahimovic, former senior prosecutor Vesna Jovićević, former deputy of DPS and ambassador Edited by Mišo Stanišat...
And the defense attorney got an apartment...
Earlier yesterday, Bošković said that Prime Minister Dritan Abazović "took the case out of mothballs" and that it was a matter of political pressure.
Abazović, commenting on that statement, said that he did not know what SDT had been waiting for until now: "I think that the state has been damaged in the millions. I think that every child in elementary school could prove that," he said, adding that Bošković came to the hearing with a lawyer who got an apartment on preferential terms.
He asserted that the Commission "gave away the money as if it were on the market":
"Vesna Medenica asked for 30 thousand, they gave her 40 thousand. Imagine that. There are many users involved, it took several years, there were several phases in which the apartments were shared. They did not go to people who really needed them, who are vulnerable categories, but to ministers, judges who had large compensations".
Yesterday, Bošković came to the hearing with lawyers Zoran Piperović and Mihail Volkov.
Allegedly, in 2019, as the then General Director of the Directorate for Human Resources in the Ministry of Defense, Volkov bought an apartment on preferential terms - for only 9.750 euros.
They did not answer the prosecutor's questions
Special Prosecutor Vukas Radonjić told "Vijesti" that on May 19, he called suspected officials of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) for questioning, and that they all agreed to respond.
He said this in response to questions from "Vijesti" - whether the hearings in the "Apartments" case were deliberately scheduled a few days before the parliamentary elections.
"The sole reason for launching an investigation against the suspects is because the Special State Prosecutor's Office, after reviewing the appropriate documentation, assessed that there are grounds for suspicion that they have committed the prolonged criminal offense of abuse of official position. "The summoning of the suspects for today's hearings was, in accordance with the law, carried out by telephone on May 19, and each of them accepted to respond to such a summons and no one asked for a postponement," he said.
Radonjić said that the suspects Bošković, Numanović and Sekulić presented their defense in the presence of the chosen defenders:
"They did not admit to the commission of criminal acts, but neither did they answer the questions of the state prosecutor."
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