Today in the High Court in Podgorica, the hearing continued before the extrajudicial special panel presided over by judge Zoran Radović, in which the indictment brought by the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SST) against the former Chief Special Prosecutor (GST) Milivoj Katnić and the former assistant director of the Police Administration (UP) continued. ) of Zoran Lazović.
Katnić and Lazović were accused of creating a criminal organization and abuse of official position
In a three-hour address to the court, special prosecutor Miloš Šoškić cited numerous Sky communications via encrypted phones, which Petar Lazović had with Switzerland. Also, as evidence that Zoran Lazović is the head of a criminal organization, he stated that it was Lazović who gave Switzerland an armored Toyota Land Cruiser as a gift.
Defendant Lazović's lawyer, lawyer Nikola Martinović, told reporters this evening that there is nothing new in what prosecutor Šoškić stated.
"The prosecutor practically reads the indictment. The only thing the prosecutor has is the alleged Sky messages. However, the prosecutor did not provide us with any material evidence from which he could show that Zoran Lazović and Milivoje Katnić committed any criminal act. It's just about making up from some gossip, that is, from some stories that I can say are town stories and gossip. Can the indictment be based on that? I don't think it can be done," Martinović said.
Lazović is accused of having formed a criminal organization, whose members include, in addition to Katnić, special prosecutor Saša Čađenović and Lazović's son, agent of the National Security Agency (ANB), Petar Lazović.
Zoran Lazović is accused of being connected with the lifting of the ban on entry into Montenegro of Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković of Belgrade. He is also accused of protecting a member of the criminal racketeering group, Duško Roganović, because, as stated, he ordered former prosecutors Katnić and Čađenović to exclude him from criminal cases.
Today, the Special State Prosecutor's Office submitted an indictment against Zoran Lazović to the Special Department of the High Court in Podgorica, for the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization, two criminal offenses of abuse of office, the extended criminal offense of money laundering and the extended criminal offense of illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosive substances. and Milivoje Katnić, for the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization, two criminal offenses of abuse of official position and illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosive materials.
The SDT explained that the indictment was brought after it was determined from the evidence gathered in the reconnaissance and investigation that there is a well-founded suspicion that Zoran Lazović, in 2020, in Montenegro, organized a criminal organization, whose members became the defendant Milivoje Katinć and the accused Petar Lazović, and Saša Čađenović and other persons unknown for now, who collaborated with the criminal organization organized by Radoje Zvicer:
"And had the goal of committing criminal acts of abuse of official position, for which by law a prison sentence of four years or more can be imposed, and that by not undertaking criminal prosecution against prominent members of their own criminal organization, and for the purpose of gaining illegal profits and power , where each member of the criminal organization had a predetermined task and role, its activities were planned for a long time and were based on the application of certain rules of internal control and discipline of members, and there was influence of a part of the criminal organization on the executive power - the Police Directorate of Montenegro and other important social factors - Special State Prosecutor's Office".
They point out that they suspect Lazović that in December 2020 in Podgorica, as the assistant director of the Police Administration for the Sector for Suppression of Organized Crime and Corruption, he illegally used his official position to benefit Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković, members of Zvicer's criminal organization.
"In the way that, at the request of RZ, which was conveyed to him by his son, the accused PL, he ensured that the ban on their entry into Montenegro was lifted and thus obtained a benefit for them in the form of the right to enter and stay in Montenegro, which was prohibited, because they represented a threat to national and internal security, and which VB and MM took advantage of, because, during January, they stayed in Montenegro, with RZ, the organizer of their criminal organization, but also had a direct meeting and lunch with the accused ZL, who then, together with the defendant MK and with the aim of concealing the committed criminal act, in public and media appearances, misled the public that these persons entered Montenegro at the request of the police of the Republic of Serbia and that according to them the Directorate of the Police of Montenegro and he as an elder undertook police measures and actions, in accordance with the law".
Lazović and Katnić suspect that in December 2020, in Podgorica, "jointly, by unlawfully exploiting their official positions and powers and failing to perform their official duties", they benefited Duško Roganović, a prominent member of Zvicer's criminal organization.
"Because the defendant ZL did not order the police to initiate a search at the DR and file a report against him as a supplement to the criminal complaint, even though evidence and notifications were previously collected from which the basis for suspicion arose that the DR committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization and others for which prosecuting ex officio, and that, as the organizer of a criminal organization, he then ordered its member - the defendant MK not to initiate proceedings against DR ex officio, which the defendant MK accepted, even though he himself knew that there were evidence and notifications for grounds for suspicion that DR committed the criminal acts for which he is being prosecuted ex officio, so he ordered the accused special prosecutor S. Č. not to initiate proceedings against DR, not to allow the police to submit a request to the court for a search warrant as well apartment and other premises, which S. Č. accepted, which is why the police officers initiated a search of other persons and only against them, on the order of S. Č. filed a report as a supplement to the criminal complaint, but not against DR, so ZL and MK were accused and accused S. Č. obtained a benefit in the form of not undertaking the act of proving and not initiating proceedings against him".
The former chief special prosecutor is suspected of having, in January 2022, together with the accused special prosecutor Čađenović, who was handling the case, by neglecting his official duty, obtained benefits for the accused Petar Lazović, Ljub Milović, Radoj Zvicer and Duško Rogaanović and seven other members of the criminal organizations.
"Because even though he knew that there were grounds for suspecting that they had committed criminal acts for which he was being prosecuted ex officio, he agreed with the decision made by the accused S. Č. not to initiate criminal prosecution against them, and then the accused MK, further fulfilling his role and task in the criminal organization, in public and media appearances he misled the public that the accused PL, the son of the accused ZL, was not a member of the criminal organization RZ, but an undercover police officer on a secret mission, while, after it was established that the accused S Č. made an obviously illegal decision, and after the investigation, filed an indictment against 11 accused persons for a large number of serious crimes, for which criminal proceedings are pending before the court," announced the SDT.
They point out that there is a well-founded suspicion that the defendant Zoran Lazović, in the period from March 2021 to March 2024, in Podgorica, falsely presented facts about the origin of money that he knew was obtained through criminal activity:
"Because, as a public and former public official, he submitted reports to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption in which he falsely stated that he earned income from agriculture in the amount of EUR 2.500,00 per month, although he did not sell agricultural products and food, nor was he registered of the ministry responsible for agriculture registered as a producer of agricultural products intended for the market, but in this way he falsely represented the origin of money obtained through criminal activity - by committing the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization for which an indictment was brought against him, and by criminal activity - by unauthorized sale of narcotic drugs and smuggling and by selling his son's cigarettes - the accused PL, against whom the Special State Prosecution brought several indictments for several criminal offenses of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs and smuggling".
They add that there is a well-founded suspicion that, in April of this year, Lazović and Katnić, in the houses they use in Bijelo Polje and Danilovgrad, kept firearms and ammunition without authorization, for which they were not issued the appropriate document on weapons, and the defendant Lazović and parts weapons and ammunition, the possession of which is prohibited for citizens.
Lawyer Stefan Jovanović: "The defense will point to the evidence in favor of the defendants"
Defendant Zoran Lazović's lawyer, lawyer Stefan Jovanović, told "Vijesta" that special prosecutor Miloš Šoškić was repeating the same things that were stated in the indictment.
"Just that repetition means only one thing, that there is absolutely no evidence from which the confirmation of the indictment itself would result. Journalists are also witnesses that this has been going on for a long time, today the prosecutor presented his position for three hours, the prosecutor also spoke for three hours at the preliminary inspection of the indictment. Of course, The prosecutor has the right and his time cannot be limited, but the prosecutor repeated himself several times. There is nothing concrete that would lead to the existence of reasonable suspicion evidence in favor of the defendants," said lawyer Stefan Jovanović.
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