In the High Court in Podgorica, the start of the trial of the defendant Duško Knežević in the "Karbon" case was postponed today.
Judge Igor Đuričković said that the accused Zoran Nikolić submitted a letter to the court in which he demands that the court proceedings against him be suspended, because he believes that the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution has expired.
The judge indicated that these circumstances should be checked both in relation to Nikolić and in relation to the other defendants, so today's hearing was postponed.
The letter states, among other things:
"The Special State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica brought against me and 4 other persons the indictment Kt-S. no. 189/18 dated 05.07.2019/276/1, which charges me with the criminal offense of abuse of authority in the economy by means of incitement under Article 3 Paragraph 4 point 24 and 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, which I allegedly committed in an organized manner, with the actions described under paragraph 3 point 1c of the indictment 3, I am accused of having committed the above-mentioned criminal offense in September 10 and that the legal entity "RTV Atlas" DOO Podgorica received a financial benefit in the amount of EUR 2011, to the detriment of the legal entity "Global Carbon" DOO Podgorica," says Nikolić's request. He adds that for the criminal offense of abuse of power in the economy, the law that was in effect at the time of the criminal offense charged against him prescribes that a prison sentence of three months to five years is prohibited, because the property benefit that was allegedly obtained does not exceed the amount of 40.000,00 euros.
"Regarding the commission of a criminal offense, according to Article 7 paragraph 1 of the same law, it is prescribed that the criminal offense was committed at a time when the perpetrator was working or was obliged to work, regardless of when the consequences of the act occurred, while according to Article 124 paragraph 1 point of the same Act, criminal prosecution cannot be undertaken when five years have passed since the commission of a criminal offense for which a prison sentence of more than three years can be imposed, i.e. the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution begins," states the submission to the court.
He adds that since, according to the indictment, he allegedly committed the said criminal offense in September 2011, and for which the criminal offense is punishable by a prison sentence of three months to five years, that criminal prosecution for the same criminal offense could not be undertaken when five years had passed from execution of the same criminal act. Nikolić believes that the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution began in September 2016, after which criminal prosecution actions were taken, and the indictment was filed on July 05.07.2019, XNUMX. year.
"That's right, the criminal prosecution for the criminal offense that I allegedly committed in September 2011, was undertaken after the expiration of five years, and the statute of limitations for the criminal prosecution began, which is why I request that the criminal proceedings against me be suspended due to the statute of limitations of the criminal prosecution." , the accused Nikolić stated.
"For the criminal offense that I am charged with from 2011, and that criminal offense is abuse of authority in the economy through incitement from Article 276 paragraph 1 points 3 and 4 in relation to Article 24 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, which was allegedly committed in an organized manner, by actions described under paragraph 1 point 3 c of the same indictment, the provisions of the amended Criminal Code of Montenegro from 2013, related to non-statutory prosecution, cannot be applied, but the Criminal Code of Montenegro (Official Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro" No. 70/2003, 13 /2004 and 47/2006 and Official Gazette No. 40/2008, 25/2010, 32/2011), which was valid at the time of the alleged commission of the crime in 64, and which did not provide for the statute of limitations prosecution for the criminal offense that is charged against me and which is lenient for me. Finally, in Article 2011 paragraph 2011 of the Criminal Code ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro" No. 125/6, 70/2003 and 13/2004 and Official Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro No. 47/2006, 40/2008, 25/2010, 32/2011), which was valid at the time of the commission of the criminal offense that I allegedly committed in 64, it is prescribed that the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution occurs in any case when twice the time required by law for the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution has passed. As for the criminal offense that I am charged with, criminal prosecution cannot be initiated when 2011 years have passed since the commission of the criminal offense, the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution in any case occurs when 2011 years have passed since the commission of the criminal offense. As I am accused of having committed the criminal offense in September 5, it is (in addition to the relative STATUTE OF STATUTE of criminal prosecution which occurred in September 10), the ABSOLUTE STATUTE OF STATUTE of criminal prosecution, which occurred in September 2011. The indictment also states that I committed the crime in an organized manner, although the indictment does not mention Article 2016a, which prescribes the creation of a criminal organization. It was only with the amendments to the Criminal Code from 2021, which cannot be applied retroactively, that criminal prosecutions for crimes from Article 401a do not become statute-barred," writes the accused Nikolić in the letter of request.
Indictment
Special state prosecutor Lidija Vukčević filed an indictment against Duško Knežević, which states, among other things, that Knežević, Predrag Dašić, Zoran Nikolić, Brankica Bašović and Biljana Bašović caused damage to the legal entity "Global Karbon" DOO Podgorica, and to the legal entities " Fin Invest", "Atlas Grupa", RTV "Atlas", "RT Mimoza", "Atlas Sistem" and "Mega Gulf Investments Holdings Limited" obtained benefits against the law in the amount of EUR 1.
From the business documentation and financial documentation, the special prosecutor states that Duško Knežević organized a criminal group in 2008, and that this follows from the testimony of the defendants' defense as well as from the testimony of associate witness Đorđe Đurđić, he writes in the explanation of the indictment.
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 incited 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 that 1.000.000 euros, which are in the "Global Carbon" account with IBM Bank, come from the founding contribution paid by the founder of IBM Bank, to be transferred to the account of the non-resident legal entity "Mega Gulf Investemnts Holdings Limited", with Atlas Bank in Moscow for the purpose of closing the loan that this legal entity has with Atlas Bank in Moscow, whose repayment term has expired. The contract on the alleged purchase and sale of carbon credits, which will not happen, serves as the basis for the said money transfer.
It was agreed that "Mega Gulf" would purportedly purchase carbon credits in the name and for the account of "Global Carbon", which agreement served as the basis for the realization of the aforementioned financial transaction. The transfer order was filled out by Brankica Bašović, certified by her signature, and transferred funds in the amount of one million euros from the "Global Kartbon" account to the "Mega Gulf" account.
The indictment also mentions the loans arranged by Knežević, when, in order to realize the criminal plan, he made the decision that IBM Bank approves a loan to "Global Carbon" in the amount of 500.000 euros, and that the means of securing the return of the loan will be a deposit of "Global Carbon" in in the amount of EUR 500.000, which, without the decision of the founder of IBM Bank, will be given from the founding role of that legal entity which was paid by IBM Bank to the legal entity "Global Karbon".
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