Defendant Duško Knežević defended himself in the "Envelope" case today in the High Court in Podgorica, as well as on other charges of money laundering. Knežević opened the affair in January 2019 by publishing a video in which he handed over an envelope to Slavoljub Migo Stijepović before the 2016 election, explaining that it contained 97.000 euros to finance the campaign of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
After the special prosecutor Tanja Čolan Deretić read the indictment, the defendant Knežević, when asked by the president of the special panel, judge Nenad Vujanović, declared that he did not understand her allegations.
"The indictment is nebulous. I'm not guilty. I will present the defense. I will not answer the questions of the prosecutor and the court, only the questions of my defense attorneys. I consider this a political process against me. The indictment is fabricated and fabricated. She is the product of my fight with the authorities and the regime. They wanted to set me up in the case of a 'coup d'état' so that I would be a witness and that I had "laundered" money, as if it had come from Russia. I refused," said the defendant, Dušo Knežević, at the beginning of his defense.
Answering the questions of his defense attorneys, lawyer Andrijana Razić, and lawyers Dražen Medojević and Dušan Radovaljević, the defendant Knežević said that Milo Đukanović asked him to help the DPS political campaign in Zeta.
Rabbits do not receive dollars
"Milo Đukanović asked me to help DPS with money for the elections in Zeta. I said I have my $200.000. I gave them to the head of security, Vlatko Rašović, to convert them into euros. After a day or two, Migo Stijepović contacted me and said that no one in Zeta wants dollars. He asked me to change them into euros," said the accused Knežević.
He referred to the accusations that he "laundered money".
"The prosecutor says that I laundered the money I gave to DPS. Money is laundered from cocaine and pushed into legal channels. This is not about money laundering, but about racketeering and extortion of a businessman. It's the same as if a girl reports that she was raped and the prosecution accuses her of prostitution," said Knežević.
"I invited Migo Stijepović. I gave him 97.000 euros in the house. The resulting footage is authentic. Migo says that he will take the money to Milo Đukanović, and that he is nervous when he meets him. I see you removed the video from the subject. The shot I took, I didn't think I would use it, but as a lethal life-saving pill to use it. Some people were pressured to give false statements. I was traveling on a private plane, not to hang out with the skulduggery and kava clan in prison. I have been funding DPS for 20 years. And not only me, but another 100 businessmen in Montenegro, but no one has the guts to say that," Knežević pointed out.
He added that he felt something was happening, people had changed towards him. The press wrote in October 2017 that Vlatko Rašović was arrested and that the behavior of certain people was changing politically, as if he had sided with the DF.
He also recounted his conversation with Milivoj Katnić, the chief special prosecutor.
"Katnić asked me if we could talk officially. I said we can. Katnić told me: 'We have information that your people are involved in crime, which is dangerous for the state'. He stated that six drivers are involved in money laundering for the Democratic Front (DF). I told him that it was impossible. "Knežević said that Katnić says that he has recordings and evidence."
Speaking about his business results and successes, Knežević stated that he had about one billion and four hundred million euros in assets in Montenegro.
When asked by lawyer Dražen Medojević about the origin of the $110.000, because the indictment stated that it was obtained from criminal activity, he answered.
"I wouldn't want to brag, I always had a lot of money with me, as well as accounts in Cyprus and Dubai. I sold the house to the Iranian ambassador for $7.000.000. As for this 110.000 dollars that was converted into 97.000 euros, it was done by six drivers, all 15.000. I said to take six drivers and to give the money to the DPS", said Knežević. He explained that he took the video to protect himself. All the charges against him started after he published a video of him giving money to Migo Stijepović.
"It is a fact and it should be known. They just take and don't give money back. Migo Stijepović was just an operative who brought money to Milo Đukanović. I was at too high a level to deal with the formation of a criminal organization. After the recording, reports and warrants started. All my property is blocked in Montenegro. I have nothing to live on. Now I live by selling paintings," said Knežević.
When "Atlas banka" was blocked, he called Milo Đukanović by phone.
"I called Milo Đukanović, who was in Argentina at the time. It was morning there. I asked Milo what was going on. He says he's in Argentina. "Wait for me in Podgorica, let's see what happens," Milo told me," Knežević said. He added that he was advised that it was safest to leave Montenegro and go to London. Then he went to Belgrade, but he was also followed there by criminal groups, so he had to leave Belgrade and went to London by regular airline.
Regarding business in Russia, i.e. Moscow, he said:
"When Montenegro imposed sanctions on Russia, my license to operate a bank in Moscow was revoked. Every year, one billion euros of investment came from a bank in Moscow to Montenegro. That bank was opened by Milo Đukanović," said Duško Knežević.
He reflected on an event that was a turning point in his life.
"When I refused Milo Đukanović that "nobody's house" was leading to me, then he changed towards me," said the accused Knežević.
At the end of the defense, he asked the judge Nenad Vujanović.
"Why was the recording of the "envelope" removed from the case file," Knežević asked. "That's a matter for the prosecution," the judge replied.
The indictment states, among other things, that Duško Knežević, after his associates converted 110.000 dollars into euros, handed Stijepović "only" 47.500 euros. In addition to Duško Knežević and Slavoljub Stijepović, Knežević's associates and friends Branislav Todorović, Živko Šljivančanin, Tamara Krdžić, Goran Grujović and Tomica Knežević were also accused.
The indictment states that in the second half of 2010, Duško Knežević created a criminal group whose members were in charge of withdrawing the money obtained from the illegal activities of several companies and then handing it over to him in order to put it into legal flows.
In the first count of the indictment, Duško Knežević committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization from Article 401 a paragraph 1 in relation to paragraph 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, and the defendants Tomica Knežević, Todorović Branislav, Šljivančanih Živko, Grujović Goran and Krdžić Tamara committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization from Article 401a paragraph 2 in connection with paragraphs 1 and 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
In the second count of the indictment, these defendants, as well as Slavoljub Stijepović, as co-perpetrators, committed the criminal offense of money laundering from Article 268 paragraph 3 in connection with paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
The trial continues on September 20.
Bonus video:
