Many now want to use my arrival for some of their personal benefits and personal calculations and show it as their success, he told "Vijesta" Dusko Knezevic less than half an hour before he was handed over to the Montenegrin police in London.
That accused businessman was extradited to Montenegro yesterday, five years after an international warrant was issued for him due to several criminal proceedings in which he is accused of damaging the state budget by millions.
Last night, after a hearing in the High Court, Knežević's detention was confirmed, which was ordered for him while he was still on the run.
"Many are not comfortable with me coming. The worst thing is that now many people want to use this for their personal benefits and personal calculations and show it as their success. But well, it doesn't matter, I'll make it, I've made it worse. I survived the 90s and a hailstorm Milo, so let's move on...", Knežević said.
During a telephone conversation with a "Vijesti" reporter at around 10:XNUMX a.m., Knežević said that he was at a military base in London, where he was waiting for the landing of the plane of the Government of Montenegro that used to extradite him to his homeland.
Around 13.40:XNUMX p.m., the aircraft he was in touched the runway of the airport in Golubovci, after which Knežević was taken to the High Court building in Podgorica under strong police security measures. The "Vijesti" photojournalist recorded that the policemen put on a bulletproof vest on Knežević.
Before the authorities of Great Britain handed him over to the Montenegrin police, Knežević announced to "Vijeci" that he was coming with a "blue bag".
In 2019, he accused the former president of Montenegro and the Democratic Party of Socialists Milo Đukanović that he received money from him, which he once handed over to him in a blue bag. Đukanović denied it.
""I come with a blue bag, it goes well with a dark combination. Dostina is not pleased that I am coming... I agreed to return to Montenegro after the court's decision to extradite me. Procedurally, we did not fully use the opportunities we had, because my property was being robbed in Montenegro and I wanted to come to stop it, but also to prove my innocence, because all the people who accused me are now already in prison," he said. is he.
They are not pursuing him politically
On April 4, the London High Court rejected the submission of Duško Knežević and his lawyers, in which they requested permission to file an appeal against the first-instance court's decision allowing his extradition to Montenegro.
“None of the proposed grounds for appeal has any prospect of success. There is no indisputable basis to consider that the (first-instance) judge's decision was wrong," said the judgment of judges Lewis and Jay.
In the verdict, which was published in the British State Archives, it is written that Knežević and his lawyers requested permission to file an appeal on three grounds - that the "Airports" case does not constitute a criminal offense for which someone can be extradited to another country, that his criminal prosecution represents political persecution and that the conditions in the prison in Montenegro are such that Knežević's rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights would be violated.
The judges accepted the position of the first-instance court that all six cases of accusations against Knežević, for which extradition was requested, constitute a criminal offense under English law, that they were committed there, while the "Airports" case, which was the subject of the appeal, is considered embezzlement , by abuse of position, for which a sentence of up to 10 years in prison can be imposed there.
"The request for extradition was not made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing the applicant (Knežević) because of his political views and there would be no prejudice in his trial, nor would he be punished or his freedom would be limited because of his political opinions," the High Court's verdict reads.
The judges confirmed the position of the first-instance court that the chronology of events in particular does not support the claims of Knežević and his lawyers, i.e. that the criminal proceedings stemmed from the collapse of Knežević's banks, and not from his political activism, and especially not because of the publication of the video in the "Envelope" affair in 2019 , which they referred to as proof of politically motivated accusations.
"The chronology of events fatally undermines the applicant's arguments, but it goes much further, there is no evidence that (Knežević) ever represented any real political force, let alone any threat to President Đukanović", the judges of the High Court cited the position of the first-instance judge, adding that they are not bound by the fact that Interpol canceled the warrant for Knežević, considering it politically motivated.
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They concluded that there is no substantial basis to believe that there is a real risk that the conditions in custody in Montenegro would violate Knežević's rights under Article 3 of the Convention on Human Rights, which stipulates that "no one shall be subjected to torture, or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".
The verdict states that Montenegro requested the extradition of Knežević due to six cases, namely: "Kaspia I" and "Kaspia II" - the alleged illegal sale of the Kaspia hotel and alleged money laundering from the sale, "Atlas II - Carbon" - embezzlement in connection with the fictitious by selling carbon credits together with illegal credit management, "Atlas I" - conspiracy to obtain funds through abuse and "Aerodromes" - embezzlement with the aim of illegally keeping the money deposited in Atlas Bank by the Airports of Montenegro. It is not clear whether Knežević, who is also a British citizen, can be tried in Montenegro for an offense for which extradition has not been requested.
Accusations against Knežević
The defendant Duško Knežević and his legal team have a lot of work to do, because many court cases are pending in the High Court in Podgorica, so they need to prepare a defense against several indictments brought by the Special State Prosecutor's Office.
In several processes, the prosecutor's office labeled him as the organizer of a criminal group, which damaged the budget by hundreds of millions of euros through embezzlement.
At the beginning of July 2021, the Podgorica High Court announced that seven indictments had been submitted against the defendant Knežević, in order to check their justification and legality.
Six were confirmed, while one was sent back to supplement the investigation.
The High Court confirmed the indictment against Duško Knežević, Slavoljub Migo Stijepović, and other defendants in the "Envelope" case.
Knežević opened the affair in January 2019 by publishing a video in which he hands Stijepović an envelope before the 2016 election, explaining that it contained 97.000 euros.
The indictment states that Knežević, after his associates had converted 110.000 dollars into euros, handed over "only" 47.500 euros to Stijepović.
In addition to Duško Knežević and Slavoljub Stijepović, Knežević's associates and friends were also accused Branislav Todorović, Živko Šljivančanin, Tamara Krdzic, Goran Grujović i Tomica Knezevic.
The indictment states that in the second half of 2010, Duško Knežević created a criminal group whose members were in charge of withdrawing money obtained through the illegal activities of several companies, and then handing it over to him in order to put it into legal flows.
After it was sent back to supplement the investigation, the indictment against the president of the Atlas Group in the case of "E-komerc" was refined.
With the initial version of the indictment, the SDT charged 108 persons and 248 companies, stating that they had reasonable suspicion that 148 domestic merchants used e-commerce with Atlas Bank and traded with over 606 websites, 54 of which were inactive.
Their turnover, he writes, was 73 million euros, 658 million dollars, 11 million British pounds and seven million Canadian dollars.
In the cases "Kaspija 1" and "Kaspija 2", the defendants are Knežević and Đorđe M. Đurđić - the former is accused of having committed the criminal offense of abuse of position in business operations by means of incitement, and the latter of abuse of position in business operations. It is stated that Knežević refused to return to Atlas Bank, in which he is the majority owner, 15,2 million euros, which was the cost of a guarantee for his business with the company "Kaspia Property".
The higher court in Podgorica confirmed the indictment in the case known as "Karbon". Special state prosecutor Lidija Vukčević claims in that act that Knežević, Predrag Dašić, Zoran Nikolic, Brankica Bašović i Biljana Bašović, caused damage to the legal entity "Global Karbon", and to the legal entities "Fin Invest", "Atlas Grupa", RTV "Atlas", "RT Mimoza", "Atlas Sistem" and "Mega Gulf Investments Holdings Limited" unlawful benefit in the amount of 1.942.000 euros.
"During 2008, the defendant Duško Knežević organized a criminal organization on the territory of Montenegro that operated until the end of 2017, whose members became the other defendants, as well as Đorđe Đurđić - a cooperating witness in this case."
According to the indictment, the defendants deliberately encouraged Biljana Bašović, the executive director of the company "Global Karbon", whose founder is Invest banka Montenegro AD Podgorica, with the intention of obtaining illegal property benefits.
"Thus, in December 2008, Duško Knežević made a decision to transfer the 1.000.000 euros that are in the 'Global Karbon' account with IBM Bank and come from the founding contribution paid by the founder of IBM Bank, to the account of the non-resident legal entity 'Mega Gulf Investments' Holdings Limited', with Atlas Bank in Moscow for the purpose of closing the loan that the legal entity has with Atlas Bank in Moscow, whose repayment term has expired. The basis for the mentioned money transfer will be the contract on the alleged purchase and sale of carbon credits, which will not happen... It was agreed that 'Mega Gulf' will allegedly buy carbon credits on behalf of and for the account of 'Global Carbon', which contract served as the basis for realization of the aforementioned monetary transaction. The order for the transfer was filled out by Brankica Bašović, certified by her signature, and funds in the amount of one million euros were transferred from the 'Global Kartbon' account to the 'Mega Gulf' account," the indictment reads, among other things.
In the "Airports of Montenegro" case, Knežević was accused of having committed the criminal offense of abuse of position in business operations through incitement.
The indictment was also brought against the former managers of Atlas Bank Marko Nikolić i Dijana Zecevic, as well as against that legal entity.
According to the indictment, the defendants damaged the Airports of Montenegro for three million euros, and benefited in the same amount to Atlas Bank, because they did not return the deposit after the deadline expired.
"From the defense of the defendants Nikolić and Zečević, and witness statements Danilo Orlandić, Vesne Ječmenice i Milice Ivanovic, it indisputably follows that the deadline for the deposit in question expired on August 11, 2018, and that the damaged company Aerodromi Crne Gore repeatedly demanded and gave instructions that the said funds in the amount of 3.000.000 euros be returned after the expiration of the deadline to the transaction account of the damaged company. But that didn't happen," states the prosecutor in the explanation of the indictment.
Money laundering
The indictment was also brought against Knežević and the then secretary of the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office Nenad Vujošević, due to the creation of a criminal organization and money laundering.
In addition to them, former employees of Atlas Bank were also accused Aleksandar Vilotijević, Srđan Pavićević i Olga Stankovic.
Knežević is charged with being the head of a criminal organization, Vujošević with being a member of a criminal organization, while three former bank employees are charged with money laundering.
It is added that Vujošević, at the behest of Knežević, contacted persons in the Special Prosecutor's Office who handled cases against him and persons close to him, in order to obtain information from current investigations.
It says that for the collected information, Vujošević was rewarded with the use of an apartment in Bar, owned by one of Knežević's companies.
The Special State Prosecutor's Office indicted Knežević and twelve other persons for creating a criminal organization, abuse of official position in business operations, money laundering and tax evasion.
The former vice-governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro was also accused Velibor Milošević, who is accused of taking money from Knežević in order to bribe controllers who checked the operations of Atlas and Invest Bank Montenegro.
Apart from Knežević and Milošević, they were accused Mladen Dašić, Miodrag Knežević, Tomica Knezevic, Tomislav Knežević, Andrija Knezevic, Vuk Dragasevic, Svetlana Mijatović, Andrei Koneneko, Ekaterina Perovna Konanenko...
The former CEO of Atlas Bank has the status of associate witness in that case Đorđe Đurđić i Vlatko Rašović.
According to the indictment, in the second half of 2010, Duško Knežević formed a criminal organization on the territory of Cyprus and Montenegro, whose members became the persons from the indictment, and which functioned until 2017.
In the operation of that criminal organization, he writes, economic business structures were used.
"According to the criminal plan drawn up by the organizer Duško Knežević with the help of members of the criminal organization, loans were raised that the end users did not repay. The loans were covered by deposits guaranteeing their return, which were deposited by companies owned by Duško Knežević, companies associated with him and other defendants. The authorized persons in these companies, Duško Knežević and members of the criminal organization, in this way earned income from the funds obtained through loans, which they did not report to the state authorities of Montenegro.
According to the indictment, this was done with the aim of avoiding paying tax obligations, putting illegally acquired money into regular cash flows, but also to prevent the determination of the true state of the banks whose majority owner is Duško Knežević.
"Evidence against the DPS mafia"
The leader of the non-parliamentary Movement for Change, Nebojša Medojević, announced yesterday that the international partners had given guarantees, and that Knežević should testify and provide evidence against the top of the DPS mafia.
"DK probably received guarantees from our international partners that he will be able to defend himself from freedom, if he provides the necessary evidence against the leaders of the DPS mafia! Justice is slow, but...", said Medojević.
Will he be safe in prison
According to the information of "Vijesti", before he was extradited, Montenegro had to guarantee Great Britain that Knežević would be safe in the Investigation Prison, but also to provide them with photos of the detention unit where he will be housed.
Knežević requested on several occasions, from London, where he was staying, that the Montenegrin security services make an assessment of his security, which was not delivered to him or his legal representatives at the time.
Nothing from cooperating witnesses?
Knežević could not be a cooperating witness in the largest number of indictments filed against him, because he is everywhere labeled as the head of a criminal organization.
In order to "deserve" that status, according to the law, he would have to accuse someone above him in the hierarchy of the criminal group.
Article 125 of the CPC prescribes that the state prosecutor may submit a proposal to the court to hear as a witness a member of a criminal organization, or a criminal group who agrees to it, against whom a criminal complaint has been filed or criminal proceedings are being conducted for an act of organized crime, if it is certain that his testimony and the evidence he provides to the court will significantly contribute to proving that criminal offense and the guilt of the perpetrators or help to detect, prove and prevent other criminal offenses of a criminal organization or criminal group:
"And that the importance of his testimony for proving those criminal acts and the guilt of the other perpetrators is more important than the harmful consequences of the criminal act he is accused of".
It is prescribed that the prosecutor can submit this proposal until the end of the main trial, and it must contain facts and data on the basis of which the court will issue a decision on determining the status of the cooperating witness.
"A cooperating witness cannot be a person who is reasonably suspected of being the organizer or leader of a criminal organization or criminal group," is stipulated in paragraph 3 of that article of the CPC.
Who brought money to whom?
Knežević has repeatedly denied that he committed the criminal acts he is accused of, accusing the "criminal octopus Milo Đukanović" of being behind the persecution against him.
In the request for the cancellation of the warrant issued in 2019, he stated that his relationship with Đukanović had deteriorated since 2011 and said that then he learned that the politician was using political donations for private purposes and that he was actively opposed to it. As another reason, he stated that "he became more active and direct in his steps to secure a democratic Montenegro."
Knežević published several recordings with people close to the DPS, including the former secretary of the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office, Nenad Nen Vujošević, during which they talk about the alleged bribe given to the then head of the Prosecutor's Office, Ivica Stanković, and the President of the High Court, Boris Savić.
"Boris Savić and Nenad Vujošević were inseparable, I attended a couple of times when they were together... And I know that they are very close. Vujošević told me that he was carrying messages from Stanković to Savić for the indictments that should be confirmed. Vujošević was the main link between Stanković and Savić for those who should be confirmed in the indictment or released from prison. Vujošević brought money to Savić and Stanković directly from my house, and the search warrant from a few nights ago for that same house was signed by the President of the High Court. I know everything about Savić and I'm going to share it...", Knežević once wrote on Instagram.
Whose nobody's house is
The villa in an elite Podgorica neighborhood came into the public spotlight after Knežević declared in 2019 that it was being built for the then president of Montenegro, but that it was only being built for his friend Vladan Ivanović.
In February 2014, "Vijesti" announced that the then mayor of Podgorica, Miomir Mugoša, made a decision to cede 1.579 square meters of city construction land next to the villas "Gorica" to Ivanović, as well as that Đukanović should move into the house.
At the time, Djuikanović denied that it was his property, but said that he did not agree with the media "putting him in the category of a desirable or undesirable owner of some real estate", but that he did not rule out the possibility of buying it someday.
"I consider it regular that if I want, I have a house in Montenegro. This man (Knežević) is manipulating," Djukanović said in early 2019.
He said that it is true that Ivanovic talked to him and offered to buy that house.
"When he told me how much he was offering it for, I said that I wasn't interested, but that I wouldn't rule out the possibility of buying it someday," said Đukanović.
"Vijesti" recently announced that the street and the approach to the parking lot in the immediate vicinity of the house next to the villa "Gorica", also known as "nobody's house", are blocked by a fence, even though they are located on a plot owned by the Capital City.
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