Minister of Justice Bojan Božović announced today that he understands citizens' concerns regarding the proceedings regarding the robbery of the Nikšić Post Office and the murder of security guard Ljubiša Mrdak.
"It is important to emphasize that the proceedings are still ongoing and that we are probably far from a final and binding verdict. This is a first-instance verdict, and according to my knowledge and consultations with the Supreme State Prosecutor and the President of the Supreme Court, the proceedings will probably continue," Božović wrote on the social network Facebook.
He added that he expects that the state prosecutor's office, upon receiving a copy of the verdict, will file an appeal, after which the second-instance court will make a decision in accordance with the law.
"I do not want to interfere in the 'live' proceedings, but I want to send a clear message - this case is not over yet and the judicial system will do its job in accordance with the law," said Božović.
All those accused of the murder of Ljubiša Mrdak and the robbery of the post office in Nikšić have been acquitted.
The first-instance verdict was pronounced the day before yesterday in the Higher Court in Podgorica.
Mitar Knežević, Stojan Albijanić, Nemanja Miljković, Petar Zolak, Srđan Svjetlanović, David Banjac and Stefan Regojević were acquitted of the charges in the Podgorica Higher Court.
"From such an indictment, it cannot be determined who fired the fatal shots at the now deceased Ljubiša Mrdak," said Judge Veljko Radovanović yesterday, pronouncing an acquittal for the defendants in the robbery of the Nikšić Post Office and the murder of the security guard.
The Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica announced that it will appeal this verdict.
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The indictment states that Mitar Knežević from Nikšić, Stojan Albijanić, Nemanja Miljković, Petar Zolak, Srđan Svjetlanović, David Banjac and Stefan Regojević. The defendants, according to a previous agreement and elaborate plan, at gunpoint from the late Ljubiša Mrdak, Dragiša Dendić and Igor Ivanović, stole money intended for the payment of pensions, killing one person. The masked robbers stole 423.000 euros from security guards at gunpoint.
The indictment presented that the accused Miljković rented two apartments in Nikšić with the accused Svjetlanović according to a predetermined plan, where they hid before and after the robbery of the Post Office. From the rented apartment in Vuka Karadžića Street, the accused had a view of the parking area where the money transfer vehicle "Volkswagen Transporter" of Podgorica plates was located, according to the indictment.
The indictment stated that on September 11, at the behest of the defendant Mitar Knežević, Albijanić and another unknown person from Bosnia and Herzegovina drove a Nissan Qashqai jeep across the border into Montenegro, which was previously stolen by an unknown group in Derventa and had fake plates attached to it. The jeep was taken over by Knežević, who hid it until the day of the armed robbery. During that period, Petar Zolak and David Banjac entered Montenegro in a Citroen Cactus via the Sitnica border crossing. When they reached the ferry, Stefan Regojević was waiting for them.
In the evening, the accused Zolak began observing the location of the planned robbery as well as the route along which he was to flee after the robbery, together with Nemanja Miljković, Svjetlanović and Banjac. According to the pre-determined plan, on October 20, at around 9 a.m., the accused were waiting for security guards in a jeep. When the van intended for transporting money and valuables approached behind the post office building, the armed attackers jumped out of the jeep and quickly headed towards the back door of the vehicle. Realizing that it was a robbery, Mrdak tried to resist, but then the robbers fired several shots, one of which hit Mrdak in the chest.
The robbers beat the other two of his colleagues with their butts, sprayed them with pepper spray, transferred the money into their vehicle and fled at lightning speed. Soon after that, police officers found a destroyed jeep used by the perpetrators in the settlement of Grebovice.
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