In order for someone to be declared guilty of a criminal offense, there must be certainty regarding the facts that make up the characteristics of the criminal offense and which facts are an element of the existence of the criminal offense specified in the indictment. There is no such certainty in the specific case, and the court ruled that the accused are acquitted of the charges because it has not been proven that they committed the criminal acts charged by the special prosecution. The path to this court was made easier until the determination of a fair and complete factual situation by the decision of the Court of Appeal, which annulled the first verdict and which contains precise instructions on how to proceed in the retrial.
That's what judge Zoran Radović said today, explaining the first-instance acquittal for all the defendants in the "coup d'état" case.
With that verdict, the leaders of the Democratic Front, Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević, were acquitted of being members of a criminal organization.
Russian citizens Eduard Šišmakov and Vladimir Popov were also acquitted of the crime of 'attempted terrorism'. In a previous verdict in May 2019, for the criminal offenses of creating a criminal organization and attempted terrorism, Šišmakov was sentenced to a single sentence of 15 years in prison, and Popov to three years less.
The former commander of the gendarmerie, Bratislav Dikić, was acquitted for the criminal offenses of attempted terrorism by aiding and abetting and creating a criminal organization.
Predrag Bogićević and Nemanja Ristić were acquitted for the same crimes. Branka Milić, Dragan Maksić, Srboljub Đorđević and Milan Dušić, citizens of Serbia, were acquitted, as was Mihailo Čađenović.
Judge Zoran Radović gave a brief explanation of the first-instance acquittal in the courtroom of the High Court.
"In order for someone to declare himself guilty of a criminal offense, there must be certainty regarding the facts that make up the characteristics of the criminal offense and which facts are an element of the existence of the criminal offense specified in the provision of the indictment. There is no such certainty in this particular case, and the court ruled that the accused be acquitted from the prosecution because it was not proven that they had committed the criminal acts charged by the special prosecutor's office. Radovic said.
He then referred to an almost crucial issue, which is the weapon, which never entered Montenegro and which was located in the rented house of a police officer at the Old Airport, which was recorded by Mirko Velimirović after entering Montenegro on October 12, 2016 and after leaving. to the office of special prosecutor Milivoj Katnić.
"That recording was reviewed in the courtroom, and the court, the prosecutors, the defendant, their defense and the public could see the grotesque scenes when Mirko Velimirović enters that room and tries in a clumsy way to record the weapon taken from the police on the reverse side. the voices of the members of the Special Police Department could be heard prompting him as he was so confused as to what he should do. According to the ruling of this court, it was not proven that Mirko Velimirović bought a weapon from a certain person in Mokra Gora and that he disassembled it and threw it into the lake according to Katnić's previous instructions. Gazivode. He didn't even know where the lake was located, nor did he know how he did it. Mokra Gora is a huge mountain with a huge area, so it is incredible for the court that Velimirović found Fadilj there without any prior agreement with someone and without telephone communication. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack," said Judge Radović.
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The departure of associate witness Saša Sinđelić to Moscow on September 27, 2016, also deserves to be explained.
"Saša Sinđelić gives a detailed description with a series of the smallest details that are characteristic of the learned testimony, and when asked by the defense, he did not know how to describe the SDT building. From the letter of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation dated September 2018, 27, whose authenticity there is no doubt, it is established that on September 2016, XNUMX, Sinđelić flew to Sheremetyevo Airport on an international flight, on which occasion he did not pass the passport or customs control During the search, Sinđelić allowed the possibility that he was sitting in a space that corresponds to transit, which is completely contrary to his statement that he was taken through a corridor bypassing passport control.
Radović said that the fact that Sinđelić entered Russia that day and was in Moscow where he met with Edvard Šišmakov, who as the organizer of a criminal organization engaged him to do work in Montenegro, affects the parliamentary elections on October 16, 2016.
"Even the equipment that was supposed to be used, according to the indictment for entering the Parliament of Montenegro and other institutions and which Saša Sinđelić handed over to the MUP of Serbia on October 25.10, 2016, was not transferred to Montenegro. On the recording of the handover, Sinđelić can be heard saying that it is equipment that he normally sells at the flea market and it is indisputable that he deals with it. Therefore, neither the equipment nor the weapon was brought into Montenegro, and the weapon that was filmed in the rented house at Stari Aerodrom was used by the judge for the investigation as requested the competent Special Prosecutor's Office issued an order for the implementation of secret surveillance measures. From the disputed evidence, it was further established that members of the Special Unit, which according to the indictment was supposed to take weapons in Montenegro, shoot at members of the Montenegrin police and enter and occupy the building of the Parliament of Montenegro and others institution, arrested the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, declared the victory of the opposition, and in which the accused Mandić and Knežević would have played an active role, they were in the area of Zlatibor and Čajetina the day before and on the day of the parliamentary elections, and it has not been proven that the act of committing terrorism on started in the territory of Montenegro. In order for it to be an attempted criminal offense and there is a completed and an incomplete attempt, the act of execution should begin and the consequence should be absent after the execution of the act of execution or for some reason the act of execution should not be completed".
In the explanation of the verdict, Radović stated that all the actions listed in the indictment were preparatory actions for terrorism, and that it was not proven that the action of execution had begun, "because of all the powerful weapons and equipment, the only thing that was brought into Montenegro were two phones "lenovo".
"When we talk about the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization in relation to Vladimir Popov, who is accused of having organized a criminal organization together with Šishmakov, while from all the evidence it is established that this man appears several times, standing on the side as a kind of security, so it is absolutely not proven that he is the organizer of a criminal organization. In relation to the accused Dikić, he was supposed to act on the orders of the organizer of a criminal organization with whom he allegedly had no contact of any kind had the task of conducting checks on persons who should be recruited for membership in that criminal organization, to come to Montenegro on the day of the parliamentary elections and at a protest rally organized by the Democratic Front, hold together other members of the criminal organization, organize their movement, manage members in conflict with members of the Police Administration due to the violent entry of Democratic Front politicians into the Assembly of Montenegro. From the testimony of Sinđelić and Velimirović, it is established that Dikić did not know about any weapons or had any communication with any member of this criminal organization, and as it is presented in the indictment, nor with those people who came to Montenegro from Serbia. With him came to Montenegro his emotional partner Kristina Hristić, whom the Special Prosecutor's Office accused of arranging meetings between other members of a criminal organization and communicating with Sinđelić and Mirko Velimirović from her mobile phone for the needs of the accused Dikić. In order for someone to undertake these actions, he must have the awareness and will to do so. It is obvious from her defense and that of Dikić that she absolutely did not know and simply gave him the phone by pressing the button, and the message went to Mirko Velimirović during their trip from Bar to Podgorica. This exhausts its entire role," said Radović.
He said that Maksić, Đorđević and Dušić were charged with the task of causing riots and conflicts, attacking the police, illegally and violently entering the Parliament of Montenegro and other institutions, which is why they came to Montenegro by train from Serbia. .
"This panel, as well as all those who attended the trials, saw what these defendants look like, that is, that they are people in advanced years. According to the findings of this panel, the only thing that is certain is that on the day of the parliamentary elections, they came by train from Serbia to Podgorica where Velimirović gave them 15 euros for lodging and food and to return to Belgrade. In addition, as stated, Mirko Velimirović himself said that they did not know about the weapons and the planned conflicts and the like that were being placed on them. In relation to the accused Mihajlo Čađenović, who, as a member of the criminal organization, was tasked with delivering messages between members of the organization and transporting other members of the criminal organization who were traveling abroad on March 250, 3 together with Nikić Anani, went to Belgrade in an official vehicle for a meeting with Slavko Nikić, who was supposed to be recruited as a member of a criminal organization".
In explaining the verdict, Radović also said that Mihajlo Čađenović, as the driver of the New Serbian Democracy, communicated only with Andrija Mandić and Milutin Đukanović.
"On March 3, 2016, he transported a person to Belgrade, where he did not attend the meeting between that person and Slavko Nikić, he had no communication with the organizers, and what was proven during the trial was that Čađenović acted like any driver - by had the obligation to transport a person from point A to point B. When it comes to Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević, they officially visited the Russian Federation in February 2016 at the invitation of the "United Russia" party, and everyone knew about their visit There is no evidence that Mandić and Knežević had any communication with Šišmakov, who, according to the indictment, was the organizer of the criminal organization. We listened to such speeches both before and after their presentations, even with a harsher connotation, but it cannot be concluded from their speeches that they called for demonstrations and gatherings in front of the Assembly, nor was it planned, which follows from the testimony of those heard witnesses Predrag Bulatović, Nebojša Medojević, Slaven Radunović, Milutin Đukanović, Goran Danilović. These are motivational political speeches aimed at bringing a larger number of their supporters to the elections," Radović said in the explanation of the verdict.
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