Yesterday, the Constitutional Court did not accept the appeals of the lawyer of the former chief special prosecutor (GST) Milivoj Katnić and a former high-ranking police official Zoran Lazović, submitted by their defense attorneys for the extension of detention.
According to "Vijesti" information, the appeal of Katnić's defense did not receive the required majority, because three judges voted for adoption, and two voted against it. The Constitutional Court decides by a majority vote of the total number of judges (at least four). That court currently has five of the legally prescribed seven judges, as two have retired - Milorad Gogic in May, a Dragana Đuranović last week.
The judges rejected the appeal of lawyer Lazović, with one separate opinion.
Katnić and Lazović were accused of creating a criminal organization and abuse of office, and were arrested in April this year.
In November, the Council of the Appellate Court rejected the appeal of their defense attorneys and confirmed the decision of the High Court in Podgorica to extend their detention.
In October, the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) submitted the indictment against them to the High Court - charging Lazović with 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. Katnić was charged with 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 Lazović, in 2020, in Montenegro, organized a criminal organization, of which Katnić and the accused became members Petar Lazovic i Sasa Cadjenovic and other so far unknown persons, who cooperated with the criminal organization organized by him Radoje Switzerland, the leader of the Kavac clan.
The former chief special prosecutor is suspected that in January 2022, together with the accused special prosecutor Čađenović, who was handling the case, he obtained a benefit for the accused Petar Lazović by not performing his official duty. Ljub Milović, Radoja Zviceru i Duško Roganović and seven other members of that criminal organization.
The indictment states, among other things, that there is a well-founded suspicion that in the period from March 2021 to March 2024, in Podgorica, Lazović falsely presented facts about the origin of money that he knew was obtained through criminal activity, and that Lazović and Katnić, in April of this year, in the houses they use, in Bijelo Polje and Danilovgrad, kept firearms and ammunition without authorization.
Bonus video:
