Regarding the verdict of the Basic Court in Ulcinj, which sentenced Ali Ušak (30) to one year in prison for the death of a diver near Cape Đerana at the beginning of Velika plaža, the legal representative of that Ulcinj resident, Podgorica lawyer Zoran Piperović, reacted. He announced that he will file an appeal against the verdict.
"At the trial, I expressed my condolences to the family of the victim and emphasized that I am a professional who does his job and that every defendant has the right to a lawyer. I emphasize this because in Montenegro, a part of public opinion forgets the criminal event and attacks the lawyer, which leads me to to the conclusion that a good part of citizens would not hire a lawyer in case of need for one, if they commit a criminal offense," Piperović told "Vijesta".
It was announced from the Basic Court in Ulcinj that Ali Ušak (30) was sentenced to one year in prison for the criminal offense of serious crime against public traffic safety from Article 348 paragraph 4 in connection with Article 339 paragraph 3 in connection with paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro. Above. The verdict was delivered by the judge of that court, Artan Kroma.
In July 2023, the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Ulcinj filed an indictment against Ušaku on the suspicion that he was driving a speedboat of the brand "Safter 500 Sport", not complying with traffic regulations, on May 10 of the same year, around 9,30:28 a.m., near Cape Đerana. with the propeller and hull of the vessel, inflicted serious injuries on diver Andrej Samardžić (XNUMX) from Sutomor, as a result of which the XNUMX-year-old died.
As "Vijesti" announced at the time, the Ulcinj prosecutor's office suspected that Ušaku was driving the speedboat at a higher speed than allowed and at a distance of about 50 meters from the coast, although it is stipulated that a motorboat may not approach the coast less than 150 meters. According to the same regulations, speedboating is prohibited at a distance of less than 200 meters from the coast.
Piperović emphasized that Ušak did not create a dangerous situation in this particular case.
"When diving, the unfortunate young man did not have the mandatory flag that he was required by law to have and which would have warned other road users at sea that someone was under the surface. By entering an illegal distance from the shore, Ušak committed a violation, but he could do nothing to predict that he could prevent it," Piperović said.
He assessed that this criminal act can be committed out of negligence.
"I don't know how the judge will explain negligence as a criminal-legal institution because he assumes that the perpetrator can foresee something that he will be able to eliminate or that he assumes that it will not happen. In this particular case, given the circumstances of the event, he is not could do because he didn't notice anything on the surface of the sea. We have to wait for the explanation of the verdict, which will definitely be appealed," said Piperović.
In the judgment of Judge Kroma, as written in the court announcement, it is stated that the defendant was charged with endangering ship traffic and endangering the life and body of the injured SA from Sutomora.
"Although he was aware that he was acting contrary to traffic regulations and that he could endanger the traffic and put the life and body of the injured party in danger, he lightly believed that the consequences would not occur, or that he would prevent them, he made contact with the injured party's body, on which occasion the injured party suffered injuries, as a result of which he died," the announcement reads.
It is added that "when deciding on the sentence for the accused, the court valued all the circumstances from Article 42 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro (mitigating and aggravating circumstances), so on the side of the accused, it valued his previous lack of conviction, as well as the contribution of the injured party, from the mitigating circumstances we see that the injured party did not have a balloon intended to mark his position while diving on the water surface, while there were no aggravating circumstances".
"The court, appreciating the stated circumstances, as well as the degree of guilt, sentenced the accused to a prison sentence of one year, considering that the punishment imposed in this way will fully achieve, within the general purpose of criminal sanctions from Article 4 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, the purpose of punishment whose goal is to prevent the perpetrator from committing criminal acts and to influence him not to commit criminal acts in the future, to influence others not to commit criminal acts, to express social condemnation for criminal acts and obligations to comply with the law, as well as to strengthen morale and influence the development of social responsibility from Article 32 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro," the announcement reads.
The parties have the right to appeal against the said verdict within 15 days from the day of receipt of the written copy of the verdict.
Bonus video: