The trial of the defendant Duško Knežević in the "Envelope" affair continued with the hearing of witnesses today in the High Court in Podgorica.
Witness Branislav Vukićević said that he asked Knežević to help the campaign of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) for the 2016 elections.
"At the end of September 2016, we gathered at Zdravko Ajković's house, where we socialized. Knežević appeared, I've known him since birth, we used to play basketball. We came to that house, talked about sports and politics because the elections were... I asked him to help the DPS youth with activities. We needed money for fuel, vouchers, transportation... I called Migo Stijepović and told him, he accepted it with enthusiasm. He said that Duško would give 50.000 dollars, and when they converted the money, it was 47.500 euros. Migo informed me that it was about that amount. I don't know what happened with that money," said Vukićević.
Knežević reacted violently. He then asked the witness who persuaded him to testify like this.
"What is the reason for the witness to lie, this is all a lie, theater," he said.
The witness Večislav Drakić said that they met and hung out at Ajković's house and that Knežević stopped by and that they were surprised.
"We talked about sports, politics and life. Duško and Bato (Branislav Vukićević) separated from the side. Bato mentioned help for DPS youth. "Duško went, and Bato told me about the help," the witness said.
The witness Spaso Popović said that at that time he was the chairman of the Board of DPS Golubovci.
"Migo came to the office, took out an envelope and said that Duško Knežević had sent the amount of 47.500 euros. We distributed the money to the activists. I called the election headquarters to agree on the distribution of money," Popović said.
Witness Zdravko Ajković confirmed that they hung out every day. He stated that he remembers when Knežević came, but that he has no knowledge of the event.
Lawyer Andrijana Razić, the defense attorney for the defendant Knežević, told reporters after the hearing of the main trial that the defense disputed the statements of the heard witnesses in the context if they differed from the defense of Knežević. "The witnesses did not say anything important about the essence of the matter of the indictment," she said.
She added that the evidence submitted by the prosecution, which was implemented, is "classic burying with the aim of presenting that some quantity of material replaces what is essentially the fault of this accusation, which is that there are no essential elements of criminal acts".
The defendant Slavoljub Stijepović denied the allegations of the indictment before the special panel, presided over by judge Nenad Vujanović, at the previous main trial. "I deny the charges and the guilt. This subject has been seriously abused in the media to my detriment. For this reason, I will only answer my lawyer's questions," said Stijepović.
He spoke in detail about the money that Duško Knežević gave in 2016 for the purposes of the DPS election campaign. He stated that they understood it as a donation, and that as he sees it now, Knežević saw it as business, as a chance to try to win the favor of the government at the time.
Knežević said that everything Stijepović said was untrue.
"He was supposed to give the money to Milo Đukanović, 200.000 dollars was agreed upon. Stijepović was a man for 'dirty jobs'", said Knežević and added that everything can be seen in the published video.
The indictment states, among other things, that Knežević, after his associates converted 110.000 dollars into euros, handed Stijepović "only" 47.500 euros. In addition to Knežević and 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 under 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 under Article 268 paragraph 3 in connection with paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
Bonus video:
