The Special Chamber of the High Court in Podgorica, chaired by Judge Igor Đuričković, postponed today to January 31, 2025 the start of the trial of the accused for the murder of Miodrag Kruščić on May 21, 2018 and the wounding of journalist Olivera Lakić on May 8, 2018.
The reason for the postponement of the hearing of the main trial is the non-appearance of the defendant Dejan Vukašinović, who is defending himself on bail.
The judge said that the postman tried to serve the summons twice on November 11 and 18, but that the defendant was not at the residential address. Lawyer Marko Radović said that he called the defendant's wife, but she did not answer.
He also checked with the company where he was employed, but was told that he had changed his workplace. He suggested that the court send the summons again, since until now he had regularly appeared and attended hearings for the control of the indictment.
Lawyer Dalibor Tomović, Olivera Lakić's attorney, suggested that the court check whether all the defendants received the indictment so that this would not be a reason for delaying the trial.
He proposed to separate the criminal proceedings against the defendants Milan Vujotić, Filip Bešović, Goran Rakočević, Veselin Bubanja and others for the criminal acts of creating a criminal organization and wounding Olivera Lakić.
He believes that the trial would have ended faster because the amount of evidence related to the defendants for the journalist Lakić is significantly smaller, compared to the total number of defendants, and 14 of them are included in the indictment.
The judge said that the criminal panel of the High Court will rule on this proposal.
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Attorney Vuksanović: The Prosecution was waiting for Mari Milošević's custody to expire
Lawyers Marko Radović and Miloš Vuksanović proposed the abolition of custody for the accused Mario Milošević, Goran Rakočević and Filip Bešović. Attorney Vuksanović particularly emphasized that he considers this indictment to be a custody indictment and explained his proposal.
"This indictment is a 'custodial indictment.' in another case," stated Vuksanović.
The defendant, Goran Vukčević, proposed to the court that the case against him should be separated because he was only accused of illegal possession of weapons. He is thinking that he might even plead guilty and take a plea deal, even though he believes he did not commit this crime. He would decide to take this step because he believes that he should not suffer the consequences of a long court proceeding.
After the break, the judges' panel rejected the defense's proposals to cancel the detention of Rakočević, Milošević and Bešović, because there are still reasons for detention since not a single piece of evidence has been presented.
Milan Vujotić, former policeman Darko Lalović, Filip Knežević, Mario Milošević, Goran Rakočević, Veselin Bubanja, Filip Bešović, Luka Bulatović, Dejan Vukašinović, Branislav Karadžić, Goran Vukčević, Mijajlo Stojanović, Aleksandar Ljumović and Sanja Božović are included in the indictment.
They are also charged with smuggling 554 kg of marijuana from Albania to Montenegro on January 26, 2021.
"The Council of the High Court in Podgorica, by decision Kvso no. 39/23, dated July 31 this year, confirmed the indictment, Kt-S no. 265/20, dated June 20 this year, which the Special State Prosecutor's Office brought against 14 accused persons: MV, GR, FB, FK, SB, LB, DV, DL, BK, MM, MS, A.Lj and GV, for the criminal offenses of creating a criminal organization, grievous bodily harm, aggravated murder, murder by incitement, illegal possession of weapons and explosive substances and unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs Oliver Lakić, from May 8, 2018, aggravated murder of the victim Miodrag Kruščić, May 21, 2018 and smuggling 554 kg of the narcotic drug marijuana, from Albania to Montenegro, on January 26, 2021," was stated earlier in the announcement of the special prosecutor and spokesman of the Special State Prosecutor's Office, Vukas Radonjić.
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