"Nowhere in the recording of Duško Knežević handing me 47.000 euros is former president Milo Đukanović mentioned in the context of taking the money. Milo is only mentioned as being at a DPS promotional rally in Zeta. I cannot believe that this was said by lawyer Dušan Radosavljević, Knežević's defense attorney, who reviewed the recording several times," said defendant Slavoljub Migo Stijepović today at the trial in the "Envelope" case at the Higher Court in Podgorica.
The discussion revolved around the defense's proposal to introduce as evidence a recording that Duško Knežević released to the public more than five years ago, showing Knežević handing Stijepović an envelope with money.
Defendant Stijepović said today that he opposes the presentation of this evidence and reiterated that Knežević abused their friendship.
"I did not give consent for the recording. I never said that the recording was authentic. In the audio part, Duško hands over 47.500 euros, which was confirmed by witness statements. And one more thing: when I said that I was going to the DPS rally in Zeta, Duško Knežević said: 'And Milo is going there too'. Former president Milo Đukanović is mentioned as going to the DPS promotional rally in Zeta. Milo is not mentioned as being handed over the money, because the money was already handed over to me," Stijepović emphasized.
After that, the defendant Duško Knežević took the floor, but the president of the panel, Judge Nenad Vujanović, did not allow the discussion to begin.
"How can't it be, brother. Everyone can speak, but I can't," Knežević shouted.
The judge warned him twice not to speak without the court's permission.
"This is a political process. After your verdict, I will 'set fire' to the political public of Montenegro," said the defendant Knežević.
Judge Vujanović said that he is not interested in either domestic or international politics.
"I am completely apolitical. I will render a verdict in accordance with the case files," the judge replied.
The defense today proposed that the recording of the handover of money between Duško Knežević and Slavoljub Stijepović be included in the case files as legally valid evidence. The arguments were presented to the court by attorney Andrijana Razić. She recalled that the recording was made in 2016 in Knežević's house, and that it was made public in 2019. Since the SDT did not do so, she proposed that the recording be included in the case files.
"The authenticity has been confirmed, which was done by the defendant Stijepović himself. Potential photomontage has been ruled out. The public has been informed of the content of the recording, which disputes some of the key allegations in the indictment and supports the allegations of the defense. We insist that the court recognize this evidence as legally valid. The whole of Montenegro is talking about this recording because it was made. The recording served as the trigger for this criminal case. The recording has legal flaws in terms of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, which regulate the creation of photographs and audio-visual recordings. However, according to the defense, these provisions are illogical. We believe that it should not outweigh all the criteria that were met during its creation and that the law requires, which is authenticity and in some way confirmation of its content by the defendant Stijepović," Razić stated.
Lawyer Radosavljević recalled that Knežević made the recording and released it to the public, which means it must be presented as evidence.
"The recording shows that he handed over 97.500 euros, or 110.000 dollars, to Stijepović. The prosecutor ignores the 50.000 euros and only mentions 47.500, which are confirmed by receipts from the DPS Municipal Board in Zeta. He handed over the money for Milo, and Duško Knežević said that he thought the money was being handed over for Milo Đukanović," said lawyer Radosavljević.
Special Prosecutor Tanja Čolan Deretić said that it is not disputed that the defendant Knežević had consent, but that Stijepović did not have consent to the recording being made.
"For this reason, the Special State Prosecutor's Office considers this to be legally invalid evidence and did not propose it as evidence in the indictment," the prosecutor pointed out.
The judge scheduled the trial to continue on March 6, when the parties to the proceedings will give their closing arguments.
The indictment alleges, among other things, that Dusko Knežević, after his associates converted $110.000 into euros, handed over only 47.500 euros to Stijepović. In addition to Duško Knežević and Slavoljub Stijepović, Knežević's associates and friends Branislav Todorović, Živko Šljivančanin, Tamara Krdžić, Goran Grujović and Tomica Knežević are 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 from 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:
