Prosecutorial Council due to the lack of complaints about the legality of the work of prosecutors who acted in the case of the murder of a security guard Ljubiše Mrdak and the robbery of the Post Office in Nikšić, did not control the work of state prosecutors during the proceedings in that case.
In its response to "Vijesti", the Prosecutorial Council explained that within its jurisdiction they can control the work of state prosecutors through the evaluation process or by considering complaints about the legality of the work of state prosecutors and heads of state prosecutors' offices.
"In this specific case, there were none," they stated in their response.
The Prosecutorial Council recalled that the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica announced that it would appeal to the Court of Appeal of Montenegro, regarding the verdict of the Higher Court in Podgorica, which recently acquitted all seven defendants in the first instance proceedings, who were tried for murder and aggravated robbery in October 2021.
Judge of the Higher Court in Podgorica Veljko Radovanović During the sentencing on February 25th of this year, he said that the indictment could not determine who fired the fatal shots at security guard Ljubiša Mrdak.
Explaining the first-instance acquittal, the president of the criminal chamber, among other things, said that the court had to take on the role of an investigative body, considering the allegations in the indictment that "remained unproven."
"In a way, the trial chamber was faced with a fait accompli, because it had to judge on the basis of such an indictment. The court had to conduct an investigation. Dozens of witnesses were heard, dozens of hours of video footage were reviewed."
They were acquitted of the charges by a first-instance decision. Mitar Knežević, Stojan Albijanic, Nemanja Miljković, Petar Zolak, Srdjan Svjetlanović, David Banjac and Stefan Regojević.
Judge Radovanović assessed that shortcomings in the prosecutor's investigation led to "this indictment," stating that some of the claims of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office remained at the level of grounds for suspicion, and some at the level of evidence or not even at that.
Radovanović stated that the court tried, although it was not its duty, to conduct an investigation at the trial hearings, but that even dozens of hours of video footage did not contribute to shedding light on the case...
Two months before the indictment was filed, Maja Jovanović was elected acting Supreme State Prosecutor by decision of the Prosecutorial Council, and the case of the murder of Mrdak and the robbery of the post office in Nikšić was taken over by prosecutor Tatjana Begović. She filed the indictment, but after Begović was also appointed acting Supreme State Prosecutor 10 months later, the case was taken over by her colleagues from the Higher State Prosecutor's Office - Armin Selmanović and Radmila Gačević
The following day, the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica reacted and announced that they would appeal to the Court of Appeal.
In the statement, they recalled that they conducted an investigation into the case within six months, after which they filed an indictment, which was confirmed by the panel of the Higher Court in Podgorica.
"We would like to point out that the detention of the accused in the above indictment was extended throughout the proceedings due to the existence of reasonable suspicion that they had committed the criminal offense charged against them. Regarding the unfounded allegations of the president of the panel - "that the panel of judges was forced to conduct an investigation in the court proceedings", we would like to point out that the court did not present any evidence independently", the statement of the VDT Podgorica reads.
The investigation was led in the first months by the then senior state prosecutor. Maja Jovanovic, and about twenty days after the crime and the robbery of almost half a million euros intended for the payment of pensions, with the then head of the Criminal Investigation Department and the current acting director of the Police Directorate Lazar Šćepanović informed the public that the case had been resolved.
Two months before the indictment was filed, Maja Jovanović was elected acting Supreme State Prosecutor by decision of the Prosecutorial Council, so the case of the murder of Mrdak and the robbery of the post office in Nikšić was taken over by the prosecutor. Tatjana Begović.
She filed an indictment, but after Begović was appointed acting head of the State Prosecutor's Office 10 months later, the case was taken over by colleagues from the Higher State Prosecutor's Office - Armin Selmanović and Radmila Gačević.
On February 25, Judge Veljko Radovanović pronounced a first-instance acquittal for all seven defendants, who were on trial for murder and aggravated robbery in October 2021. The Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica announced that it would appeal to the Court of Appeal of Montenegro.
Lawyer Maja Zeković, who represents the accused Nemanja Miljković, stated that the first-instance decision should provoke serious scrutiny of the actions of individual prosecutors when leading the investigation, as well as the actions of the panel when reviewing the indictment.
Protests were also organized in Nikšić due to the first-instance acquittal of the defendants in the armed robbery of the Post Office and the murder of Ljubiša Mrdak.
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