The trial of Slavko Stojanović, the former director of the Police Administration, continued today with the hearing of witnesses in the High Court in Podgorica.
Witness Vuk Kljajić, a police officer, said that this event happened in 2017, and that due to the passage of time, he does not want to deviate from his earlier statement.
He stated that the elder on duty called his colleagues and him then and instructed them to go to Zeta, where a truck was parked, across from an old house. He stated that a visual inspection revealed that there were packs of cigarettes in the load of the truck and added that he did not remember whether they had mentioned the brand of cigarettes in the official note. He said that if they did not specify the brand of cigarettes, then at that moment they were not aware of that information. He added, among other things, that accompanied by the police, they took the truck to the customs terminal near Zetatrans and that he does not remember if the truck stayed there, while he continued with other official activities and duties.
Witness Milorad Krivokapić said that, as far as he remembers, he sold the truck in question in 2013 to Slobodan Baćović, who is an "older trucker". He added that during the handover of the money, he had a personal meeting with Slobodan Baćović and that he was paid about eight and a half thousand euros. He pointed out that he had no communication or meeting with Igor Baćović, Slobodan Baćović's son, regarding the truck. He stated that it was a "MAN" truck, with a blue cabin, a light gray tarpaulin and a white box. Previously, he worked as a road transporter, Krivokapić said that he assumed that one package could fit around 50 standard-sized cigarette packs.
In his defense, Stojanović said, at the trial held in mid-September, that he pleaded guilty to the crime of abuse of office, that is, in connection with the smuggling of cigarettes that were found in the truck. He pleaded not guilty to illegal possession of a gun.
Stojanović was charged with criminal offenses of abuse of official position and illegal possession of weapons and explosive materials. It is suspected that he damaged the state coffers by 112.504 euros by abusing his official position.
"From the evidence collected in the reconnaissance and investigation, there is a well-founded suspicion that the defendant, on March 31, 2018, in Podgorica, as an official and a public official, by unlawfully using his official position and authority, obtained material benefits for others and caused damage to others, and the value of the acquired property benefit exceeds the amount of thirty thousand euros, because, in his capacity as director of the Police Administration of Montenegro, who manages its work, and after learning that his friend's truck with cigarettes was stopped in Podgorica without the necessary documentation and with the intention of preventing the police, in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Rulebook on the manner of performing certain police tasks and the application of powers in the performance of those tasks, collect notifications from the truck driver, temporarily confiscate the truck and cigarettes from him, in order to secure items that can be used as evidence and submitted a criminal report to the state prosecutor, issued an order for the police to let the driver continue moving with the truck with cigarettes," stated state prosecutor and SDT spokesman Vukas Radonjić earlier in the announcement.
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