Almost a thousand people are on the docks of the High Court of Podgorica because of organized crime, but soon a hundred of them could await the verdict in freedom - because in 58 cases for more than two and a half years, no first-instance decision was made.
These are the data of the Judicial Council submitted to Vijesti.
The Special Council of the High Court deals with cases of the Special State Prosecutor's Office, which has jurisdiction over organized crime, corruption and war crimes.
Radmila Đurišić from the Judicial Council explained to Vijesti that on August 30, those councils were working on 137 cases.
"On August 30, 08, there were 2023 'KS' cases pending before the High Court in Podgorica (organised crime cases)... The total number of defendants in all KS cases per seduction, which are currently pending, is 137. Please note that due to the method of seduction, we are not able to know whether decisions, or solutions, have already been made for some of these persons, while the cases are still being processed," the answers say.
Đurišić explained that 58 cases last longer than two years and six months.
"We are not able to provide the reasons for the postponement of the hearing, because they are not recorded in the existing information system," she explained.
As of August 25, the High Court in Podgorica did not respond to the questions of how many cases are pending before the specialized department of the High Court in Podgorica and how many of them have not been given a first-instance decision for more than two years and six months after the confirmation of the indictment.
Questions about the total number of defendants in cases in which a decision was not made, as well as the reasons for which hearings in these cases are most often postponed, remained unanswered.
The news reported earlier that the authorities suspect that in numerous cases the possibility of postponing the search is being misused in order to free hardened criminals, accused of the most serious crimes, from prison.
Article 179 of the Law on Criminal Procedure stipulates that, after the submission of the indictment to the court, until the end of the main trial, custody may, in the opinion obtained by the state prosecutor, when the proceedings are conducted on his charge, be determined or terminated only by the decision of the panel and that from the filing of the indictment to of the first-instance verdict, custody can last for a maximum of three years.
The interlocutor from the security sector said that dozens of members of the clans had already been released from the Investigation Prison before the first-instance decision was made, and that soon, if something does not change, members of the organized criminal groups the Kavački and Skaljar clan could also be free.
Thus, in the coming months, accused of murders, liquidation preparations or international drug smuggling could be released.
"Among the defendants in those 58 cases are those who, after the abolition of custody, are already defending themselves from freedom. These are, predominantly, those who are accused of criminal offenses that are not particularly serious, and fall within the scope of work of the SDT. However, among those who could soon be released are those who represent a social danger and who are charged with the most serious crimes in the field of organized crime. By allowing the limit to be reached, under any pretext and circumstances, when the law foresees only one thing - release, the efforts of the SDT and the police acting on their orders to fight organized crime are rendered meaningless," said the interlocutor of Vijesti.
Explaining that the security sector is aware that detention is not a punishment, that interlocutor told Vijesti that it is necessary to find a mechanism to prevent "unreasonable prolongation of proceedings".
He said that they are aware of the shortcomings that affect the "dragging" of proceedings, and that one of them is the inadequate space in the High Court in Podgorica.
"Nevertheless, we must all do our best not to allow those accused of the most serious crimes to escape without punishment, which is their goal," he said.
Members of the mafia clans, if they find themselves at liberty, will not calmly wait for long-term sentences to be handed down, a high-ranking official of the Police Administration told Vijesti earlier.
Taj, a former UP official, previously said that the state must not allow such a scenario, adding that the question is whether those released from custody will ever be able to return to the Remand Prison.
SDT deals with the state and organized mafia
The law stipulates that the Special State Prosecutor's Office undertakes all actions within its jurisdiction before the Special Department of the High Court in Podgorica.
That prosecutor's office is responsible for prosecuting perpetrators of organized crime, regardless of the amount of the prescribed sentence, high corruption, money laundering, terrorism, war crimes, violations of electoral rights prescribed in Chapter Sixteen of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
Public officials are also under their jurisdiction if they commit criminal acts of abuse of official position, fraud in office, illegal influence, inducing illegal influence, accepting bribes, giving bribes...
They also prosecute those who, by committing the criminal offense of abuse of position in business operations and abuse of authority in the economy, obtain a financial benefit that exceeds the amount of forty thousand euros.
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