Budimir Krstović and his daughter Marina Krstović were also acquitted of the charge of smuggling 1.206 kilograms of cocaine in repeated court proceedings.
Judge Vesna Kovačević pronounced the first-instance verdict today, after the main hearing held in the courtroom of the High Court in Podgorica.
The judge stuck to the earlier explanation of the acquittal pronounced at the end of November last year, stating then that the prosecution did not provide any evidence that the defendants obtained cocaine from an unknown person, as stated in the indictment.
Without hiding his indignation as to why he was arrested for smuggling cocaine without any reason, Budimir Krstović said that the state has the possibility to investigate who ordered this shipment. When asked specifically by a journalist whether he suspects anyone, he answered:
"The state has the option, that I do not bid with the names, Petar, Dragan... The former director of ANB, Dejan Vukšić, provided the prosecution with evidence in that case, but the prosecution did not agree to activate that information. Why don't they bring them out. I never defended Milan Knežević in my life, and why did he defend me. Because he was a director in the parliamentary Security Committee. He knows everything. And when was that cocaine created and where did that car go... The drugs were not thrown out of my warehouse in packages at all, there are witnesses. I can't bid on names, whether it's 'Petar', 'Dragan' or this one. If we have 5.000 police officers, 5.500 of them will say that the Krstovićs have nothing to do with drugs. The service in both Serbia and Montenegro knows whose drugs it is and who paid for the goods. I have no evidence that it belongs to anyone. I can't bid on names. I have three children, I can't put them at risk. This really needs to be published. On the advice of one of the directors from the cabinet of Zoran Brđanin, director of the Police Directorate, I received a recommendation that I must contact the American embassy. Admittedly, we contacted the American embassy even before that. I contacted the ambassador and sent my resume as well as the director of the DEA in Zagreb, who was coming here and went to the US embassy in Podgorica to thank us. I must also thank the OSCE, which followed the trial from beginning to end," said Budimir Krstović.
He added that he had hired a private agent on the orders of the DEA, to find out where the drugs came from, who had been working for two months.
His daughter Marina Krstović said that she expected an acquittal.
"We were hoping for the same decision of the High Court. As I said, judge Vesna Kovačević explained the verdict in detail and thoroughly, just like the first time. The dispute was a technical matter. So I sincerely hope that the prosecution will not submit the appeal to the Court of Appeal. Although knowing the kind of terror that has been perpetrated on us for two years, he will probably complain again, I don't know on what basis. Instead of investing this time and effort into the investigation to find out who the real people ordering the drugs were, they decided to persecute me and my father. Because it suited me that way or someone ordered them to do that," said Marina Krstović after the acquittal.
Her defender, lawyer Stefan Jovanović, said that this was the decision of an independent court and that innocent people have something to hope for.
"This verdict, you all witnessed, is an obvious example of efficient justice. On July 3.7, 2023, the annulment decision was published on the Appellate Court website, and already on July 21, 2023, the first-instance proceedings and the first-instance verdict, which could not have been different, were completed. So this verdict, the verdict pronounced by judge Vesna Kovačević, is legal, just and brave. As the defense repeatedly pointed out, this case followed pressure from people outside the judiciary. The judge did not give in to that pressure. This verdict is an example that innocent people have something to hope for," said lawyer Jovanović.
He stated that this procedure was a flat-rate investigation, because Montenegro was trying to present itself as a credible partner to international authorities, since the sinking was also to the detriment of innocent people.
"The prosecution has the legal possibility to file an appeal. Part of me really hopes that the prosecutor's office will further use its experience and logistics not to file a new complaint, but to find the real perpetrators of this criminal act," said lawyer Stefan Jovanović.
The Court of Appeal had earlier overturned the acquittal of the High Court and sent the process back for a retrial.
Budimir Krstović and Marina Krstović were acquitted of the criminal offense of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs as co-perpetrators.
They were arrested in August 2021, after the police found 1.200 kilograms of cocaine in their warehouse, in the Zeta village of Mojanovići. Marina and Budimir Krstović claimed before the investigators that they had nothing to do with the found drugs.
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