The first-instance verdict was handed down today in the Higher Court in Podgorica against the defendants for the murder of Saša Klikovac, and the defendants Marko Šuković and Miloš Marković were sentenced to a total of 27 years in prison.
The court sentenced Šuković to 12 years in prison for the crime of complicity in murder, while Marković was sentenced to 15 years.
Marković was also sentenced to five years in prison for the extended criminal offense of illegal possession of weapons and explosives. The court sentenced the defendant to a single prison sentence of 19 years and 10 months.
Ivan Milačić was sentenced to three years for the aggravated criminal offense of illegal possession of weapons and explosives.
Miloš Marković was tried in absentia because he is a fugitive. The court lifted his detention because no verdict was issued within three years.
Lekić: Expected acquittal for Vukadinović
Lawyer Damir Lekić stated that all defendants charged with creating a criminal organization in the indictment of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) have been acquitted of the charges.
"Predrag Vukadinović was acquitted of the charges, and after the first-instance verdict, his detention was lifted. Bearing in mind that the court accepted certain defense proposals and that certain evidence be excluded from the case file, and later that certain evidence not be presented in the evidentiary proceedings, this was an expected decision, especially for Vukadinović, as well as for the other defendants. Because after the court excluded certain evidence, and later that certain evidence not be presented in the evidentiary proceedings, there was no evidence against Vukadinović that would give rise to a reasonable suspicion that he was a member of the criminal organization formed by the now deceased Alan Kožar, for the murder of Saša Klikovac. So the court's decision was expected. Vukadinović was acquitted of all charges in the first instance, after which his detention was lifted. I am sure that the second-instance Court of Appeal will also recognize the correctness of the decision of the Higher Court," said Lekić.
He added that the defense will appeal the verdict that sentenced defendant Miloš Marković to a single prison sentence of 19 years and 10 months for murder and the aggravated criminal offense of illegal possession of weapons and explosives.
Turković: Defense satisfied, fabricated indictment dismissed
"The defense is satisfied because the prosecution's fabricated indictment has undoubtedly been dismissed, given that the defendants were acquitted of the charge of committing the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization, while on the other hand, the legal qualification of the criminal offense of aggravated murder in a cruel and insidious manner and for selfish reasons did not survive," said attorney Maja Turković, defense attorney for defendant Marko Šuković.
"My client Marko Šuković was convicted by the decision of the first instance panel of the Higher Court for the criminal offense under Article 143 in conjunction with Article 23 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, namely murder in co-perpetration, to a prison sentence of 12 years. I will appeal this decision of the panel, given that it has not been proven that my client had the awareness and will to take the actions he took with the awareness of depriving the injured party of his life, but rather that he did so solely with the awareness and intention to help his friend, the accused Marković, for friendly reasons. Considering that before the critical event, the accused Marković had complained to him on several occasions that the injured party had been mistreating him for a long period of time, which caused him to have accumulated fear. My client provided assistance to the accused Marković solely so that the accused Marković could intimidate the injured party, and in no way with the intention to kill him, because Šuković was absolutely unaware of this intention, because if he had, he would never have gone with Marković," stated lawyer Turković.
Šuković arrested
After the verdict was pronounced, the court decided to order detention today for Šuković, who has been defending himself from freedom until now, pursuant to the decision of the Higher Court of January 20, 2024, because a first-instance verdict had not been issued within three years.
"In my closing statement, I requested that he be allowed to defend himself from freedom until the final court proceedings are completed. However, today the court took advantage of the legal possibility and, despite the defense's proposal, decided to deprive this defendant of his liberty immediately, after the oral announcement of the verdict," Turković stated.
SDT indictment
The Special Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against Marko Šuković, Miloš Marković, Ivan Milačić and Predrag Vukadinović for membership in a criminal organization and the murder of Saša Klikovac in July 2020. Jovan Miković was also charged with illegal possession of weapons.
According to the SDT indictment, the criminal organization was formed by the late Alan Kožar, on whose orders Marković arrived in front of the "Kod Crnogorca" restaurant on July 18, 2020, in a stolen "Golf 3" driven by Šuković, and from the back seat "in a treacherous manner" and in return for the previously promised reward of 20.000 euros, shot Klikovac. Klikovac was shot while he was behind the wheel of his "Citroen C3". Investigators determined that Milačić was in charge of following the victim and purchasing equipment, masks and weapons, which he buried together with Šuković in the hamlet of Poljice after the murder. Vukadinović's task, as alleged in the indictment, was to provide logistical support to the perpetrators of the crime and provide money for renting "shelter apartments".
In her closing arguments before the court in mid-January this year, Special Prosecutor Nataša Bošković asked the court to find defendants Marković and Šuković guilty and to sentence them to long prison sentences. She requested four years for defendant Vukadinović, and seven years for Milačić.
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