In the continuation of the trial of the former mayor of Podgorica, Miomir Mugoša, in the "Customs" case, the Special State Prosecutor's Office proposed today to the High Court in Podgorica that part of the content of messages from the phone of Vesna Medenica be included as evidence, said special prosecutor Marija Raspopović.
Closing statements were planned for today. She added that these are messages that are already as evidence in the court proceedings against Vesna Medenica.
"It is about communication between Medenica and the sister of the accused Miomir Mugoša," said the prosecutor.
The president of the special council, judge Vesna Kovačević, gave the SDT a deadline of eight days to submit on CD the separated communication, which she claims is of possible importance for this court process.
The defenders of the defendant, lawyers Mitar Mugoša and Predrag Đolević, opposed the proposal of the prosecution and stated that they did not see the purpose of reading something that someone wrote and talked about someone.
"Regarding the listing of persons who have nothing to do with this procedure. We are amazed. It is absolutely inadmissible to conduct transcripts in which someone talks about someone, we don't know about what. And especially since the defendant does not communicate in them. This means that then anyone, who is not involved in this procedure, can say something about someone and that it will be used as evidence", said lawyer Mitar Mugoša.
Judge Kovačević clarified that the court will deliver the material to the defense and then make a decision on whether the mentioned messages should be used as evidence in this proceeding.
The prosecutor proposed to the court to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court on the statute of limitations in criminal proceedings. The defense attorneys had an objection, because their proposal on the statute of limitations was previously rejected by the court, so it is unclear why the prosecution is asking for it.
"It is obvious that the statute of limitations has caused the prosecution a lot of pain, considering the consequences it brings if it is established that the statute of limitations has occurred. All that was said today, SDT could have said earlier. This is especially taking into account the fact that this panel rejected as unfounded the statute of limitations proposal. Why SDT insists on this now, only it knows", lawyer Mugoš emphasized.
Attorney Đolević stated that he and Miomir Mugoš spoke on the phone about the proposal for statute of limitations in criminal proceedings and that no one knew about it except them.
"Telephones are tapped, whether it's mine or his. Judge, let me just present to you what is being done and at what time", lawyer Đolević emphasized.
On December 21, 2023, the High Court rejected the defense's proposal to suspend the proceedings against Miomir Mugoša due to the statute of limitations of the criminal prosecution. The Court of Appeal of Montenegro accepted the appeal of the Special State Prosecutor's Office and annulled the verdict acquitting Mugoša of the charges.
By the verdict of the High Court, Miomir Mugoša was acquitted of the charge of having committed the criminal offense of abuse of office under Article 416 paragraph 3 in relation to paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro for the reason that it was not proven that he had committed a criminal offence. With that verdict, the former mayor of Podgorica, Miomir Mugoša, was acquitted of charges that in the case of the sale of the city's construction company DOO "Carine", he damaged the capital city's budget in the amount of 6,7 million euros, and "Carine" obtained a benefit in the same amount.
At the repeated trial, Mugoša said that he did not feel guilty and that he was not guilty. The indictment stated that Miomir Mugoša "from July 25, 2007 to May 8, 2012, as an official and public functionary - the mayor, by exploiting his official position and exceeding his official authority, obtained benefits for others and caused damage to the Capital City".
"Acting contrary to the official interests and the interests of the capital, namely the Law on Construction Land, contrary to the decision of the Municipal Assembly, he made a decision on August 30, 2007 to transfer the right to the land to the company 'Carine' for 165 euros per square meter, by direct agreement," he writes. in the indictment.
In this way, it is added, he obtained a benefit of 6.723.194 euros for "Customs", and damage in the same amount to the Municipality of Podgorica.
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