The trial for the murders of Nemanja Prelević (28) and Danilo Peković (20) in Veruša on October 17, 2020, for which Marko Zekić and eight other people were accused, began today in the High Court in Podgorica, before the special panel of judge Vesna Kovačević.
Apart from that tragic event, Miomir Đukić and Zekić are on trial for the attempted murder of brothers Kenan and Ismet Suljković on 18 November 11 near the hospital in Berane. The court issued a decision to combine both indictments and conduct a single procedure.
The Special State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica filed an indictment against the eight-member criminal organization of the accused Zekić, who is on the run. In addition to Zekić, Đukić, Dragan Biletić, Vasilije Đukić, Mirčeta Mihailović, Nenad Milačić, Goran Milašinović, Branislav Ivanović and Dragan Tarić are also accused.
The defendants Zekić, Ivanović and Tarić, who are on the run, are being tried in absentia, according to the court's decision.
According to the collected evidence, Zekić, Đukić and Mihailović killed Prelević and Peković together on October 17, 2020, in the town of Uvač, with premeditation and prior agreement. Milašinović, Biletić, Ivanović and Miličić assisted in the serious murder of two Podgorica residents by deliberately creating conditions and removing obstacles. The task of part of the group was to monitor the movement of Prelević and Peković in order to determine the most favorable place and time for their liquidation.
The defendants completely denied the allegations in the indictment that they were responsible for the murders of Prelević and Peković. They pointed out that they did not have encrypted phones, and that they did not know the young men who died.
Miomir Đukić addressed the council of Judge Kovačević with the words "honorable judges".
"I understand the indictment. I plead not guilty. I will give a brief defense in a few sentences. I will not answer anyone's questions, not even the court, the prosecutor and the lawyer. As for the murder on Verusha, I didn't know any of those guys. I feel sorry for that guy. I did not own an encrypted phone, as claimed by Europol," said the defendant.
After the accused Dragan Biletić said that he did not want to present a defense, the judge read his statement to the SDT on December 24, 2021.
"It's not my fault. I am in shock at what is being charged. "I was diagnosed with corona and had two traffic accidents, so my health deteriorated," the defendant stated at the time.
The accused Vasilije Đukić declared that he is not guilty.
"I have nothing to do with what is being charged against me. I didn't have an encrypted phone. This is all. I have nothing more to say," he said.
The accused Mirčeta Mihailović also declared that he was not guilty.
"I am not guilty of anything. I'm not going to defend myself. I didn't do anything. I have lived for 40 years without a criminal complaint and this is what I am accused of," he said.
The defendant Nenad Milačić said in his defense that he is not guilty.
"I want to say that I am not a member of a criminal organization. I never saw these guys, now deceased. I feel sorry for that guy. I have not used an encrypted phone, I have never seen one. I am the father of two children and my family is suffering this injustice that was inflicted on me", he declared.
The defendant, Goran Milašinović, said that he does not admit guilt.
"I will defend myself. I don't know what to base my statement on. I have no knowledge of all this. I am not a member of any criminal organization. I did not use an encrypted phone, he declared.
The defendant Zlatko Drašković, accused of being a member of a criminal organization, said that he does not admit guilt.
"I just want to say that I have never seen damaged boys in my life. I didn't know them. I am not a member of a criminal organization. That's all," he said.
The indictment stated that after they found out that the targets would be in Prelević's house in the town of Uvač on October 17, they communicated this information to Zekić, Đukić and Mirčeta Mihailović, who headed to Veruša.
It is added that Mirčeta Mihailović handed over an automatic rifle and a pistol to Zekić and Đukić, who, after a brief discussion at the door of the cottage, killed Prelević by firing several projectiles into his head and upper body. After killing Prelević, they entered the cottage and killed Peković.
Transcripts of the Sky application used by members of this criminal organization revealed that the murder of Prelevic and Pekovic was planned several months earlier.
Zekić managed the organization of the liquidation in this case. Sky communications also revealed that Milašinović had a connection in the police through which he disclosed to the group the information of the investigators regarding the investigation of the murder of Prelević and Peković and the traces found. After the murder of Prelević and Peković, Zekić announced to the group via the encrypted Sky application a plan to extort a person from Beran, from whom he planned to take 100.000 euros to cover the costs of the liquidation of two Podgorica residents on Veruša.
Marko Zekić from Beran had a physical confrontation with Nemanja Prelević in a bar in Podgorica, after which he made the decision to kill him, so he informed the other members of the criminal organization he founded, among other things, according to the indictment.
In the explanation of the indictment, it is written that, according to evidence from France, Zekić informed the other defendants about the conflict he had in the bar via the Sky app and told them that he had made the decision to kill Prelevic.
"From further communications from August 05, 08, Zekić announces that he made the decision to take the life of Nemanja Prelevic precisely because of the fight he had with him and with Vladimir Bajčeta and Marinka Banović in a restaurant. In those messages, Zekić states that he had a gun with him that he left behind and at the same time he inquires with the other defendants where Prelevic lives, what kind of vehicle he drives, and where his house is located, that is, what is the street where the victim's house is located," the explanation of the indictment reads.
Ismet Sujković: Zekić shot me and my brother Kenan
Defendant Miomir Đukić today, pleading to the indictment, stated that on November 18, 2021, around 22 p.m. near the General Hospital in Berane, he was in a vehicle when Zekić shot the Sujković brothers Ismet and Kenan and Mirza Kastrata, who were in the "Passat" vehicle, said that he was a few kilometers away from the place where the shooting took place, and that he had nothing to do with the event.
"That evening I was driving a car through the city, with my friends Zekić and Biletić, then we were in the Rudeš settlement, then we went in the direction of Budimlja, then we passed by HD 'Laković', and then we passed by the 'Jugopetrol' gas station. "Vudeo surveillance was installed in all those places and the cameras recorded us in all those places. When we got to Rudeš, we turned back and stopped at a gas station to fill up," he said.
Djukic said that when they got to the hospital, the traffic police stopped them and said they couldn't go any further because there was a shooting.
"Later, the police called me to give a statement. They took my jacket and nothing was found on it. Then they let me go home. You can see everything on the cameras of "Jugopetrol" in what I was wearing, in an orange jacket. This indictment was created by a member of a criminal organization and is now in custody in Spuž," Đukić claims.
The injured witness, Ismet Sujković, said that Đukić was driving a "Golf 4", then that he overtook a "Passat" driven by his brother Kenan. He said he heard a gunshot. He stated that Zekić, from the back seat of the car, shot at them with an automatic rifle.
He claims to have seen a barrel, flames, and that the automatic rifle was wrapped in some kind of bag made from a bag of raw coffee. Witness Sujković said that as he was in the passenger seat, he took out his gun from his belt, cocked it and fired in the direction of the vehicle driven by Đukić. He said that he barely remembers the event, after which judge Vesna Kovačević read the statement he gave in the Bjelopolje prosecutor's office.
Ismet Sujković stated that he, his brother and Kastrat Mirza had previously been on bad terms with the defendants Zekić and Đukić, and that Đukić had even planted an explosive device under the car in which his brother Kenan and he were, as well as some of their friends. , for which Đukić was held accountable before the High Court in Bijelo Polje in 2017.
He stated that although at the trial they tried to ease the position of Đukić with the aim of reconciliation, the problems continued and that his company and he were constantly exposed to the provocations of the defendant Zekić and his company. A month before this event, he received information that the defendants Zekić and Đukić and his company were planning to kill him and his brother Kenan, while they noticed that these persons were following them around the city in different vehicles, which is why he was afraid for his security bought a gun.
That evening, November 18, 2024, between 19 and 20 p.m., he and his brother were driving their Passat, driven by his brother Kenan, while he was sitting in the passenger seat. They noticed that a vehicle passed by, which Mirza Kastrat said was a "Golf" with IV Budva license plates, with his brother commenting that "this is not them".
He explained that they turned into the street and waited to see where this vehicle went, when Kastrat Mirza said "here it turns", and then they noticed the "Golf IV" moving in a semi-circle and following them. He said that then told his brother Kenan to go, as well as to roll down his window, which he also did with his, and he pulled a "red flag M88" 9 mm pistol from his belt, which he repeated and held in his hand.
He stated that at that moment the "Golf" managed to go uphill, and at one point it accelerated, and while their vehicle was passing between the hospital and the gymnasium, a pipe peeked out from the back seat of the "Golf" and started shooting at them.
He pointed out that this happened while the "golf" was overtaking their vehicle, whereupon he, at the urging of his brother, leaned over it and fired one bullet from his gun in the direction of the "golf" through his window. He claims that then he recognized the defendant Miomir Đukić who was driving the vehicle, and who was wearing some clothes with yellowish details on his upper body. He stated that he then got out with the upper half of his body through his window holding a gun in his hand, when he saw that the defendant Marko Zekić was hanging from the rear right window of the "golf" by his upper body and from the rifle, which was covered with a brown sack coffee, shoots towards their vehicle.
"The defendant Marko Zekić was not wearing anything to disguise himself, his face was exposed, he was wearing a beard that he usually wears, as well as a black sweatshirt with a hood, which was halfway up his head," said the witness to the prosecutor.
He added that he was shot in the right thumb, which caused the gun he was holding in that hand to fall into the street.
He joined the criminal prosecution against the defendants Marko Zekić and Miomir Đukić, while he did not file a property-legal claim.
Lawyers Stefan Jovanović and Drago Konatar, the defenders of Zekić and Đukić, completely objected to the testimony of the witness.
"At the moment when the Sujković brothers were shot, my defendants Zekić and Đukić were on the other side of the city, about five or six kilometers from the hospital in Berane. It was all documented by a video from the 'Eko jugopetrol Rudeš' pump, and that evidence is there "The police seized the jacket from Đukić, which was later examined and no gunpowder particles were found on it," said lawyer Jovanović.
He added that in order to confirm the defense, a reconstruction of the event should be done, which would certainly confirm the allegations of the defense.
"Because if the reconstruction had been done and compared to the video surveillance, it would have been seen that the defendants were not at the hospital when the Sujković brothers were shot," Jovanović stated.
Lawyer Konatar noted that the witness did not clearly see the rifle, and that he was only assuming.
The trial continues on April 22.
Bonus video:
