The defense attorney for the defendant Predrag Bošković, lawyer Mihailo Volkov, said today in his closing argument that the "Apartments" case is a political process.
Defense lawyers proposed to the court to issue an acquittal.
"From the beginning of the process, the defense has been emphasizing the fact that this is a politically motivated proceeding. We were encouraged to reach this conclusion by former Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, who, according to our knowledge, participated in this," said attorney Volkov.
He said that the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) changed its position in letters to the court regarding this procedure, thus proving "that one call changes everything."
"The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) bases its position that the accused were public officials at the time of the alleged criminal offense from the fact that they were also ministers at the time they were members of the Government Commission for Resolving Housing Issues. The Commission has two positions - the president of the Commission and the members, there is no third. The only correct position is that the accused acted as members of the Commission," Volkov believes.
He added that the defense emphasized that the Government's conclusion was mandatory. He said that this is also evident from Article 7, which states that it is mandatory for one of the members of the Government to participate in the work of Government bodies and organs.
"The Government's conclusions were by-laws and the Supreme Court took that position," he said.
He believes that this is a situation in which people are being tried for adopting an act that was just a dead letter on paper, because it is the Government that makes the final decision.
"All witnesses confirmed that the money did not arrive in their accounts until they signed the contract. The defendants did not make any decisive decisions," he said.
Lawyer Zoran Piperović said in his closing remarks that the SDT is trying to diminish the Government's consent, which is "a confirmation from the competent state body."
"This indictment cannot survive, because there is no criminal offense in it, we do not have the capacity of official persons," he stressed.
In a statement to the media after the main trial hearing in February this year, Piperović stated that the defendants were not officials.
"What ASK said does not correspond at all with the prosecution's allegations. The prosecution deals with the term "officials" in the indictment, and ASK says in its letter what and who public officials are. These are two categories. Here, I have been saying this from the beginning, there is only one thing at issue, whether the accused Bošković and others are official persons or not. And it is evident that they are not. The rest of the evidence is irrelevant, because this is only a legal issue," Piperović emphasized.
Special Prosecutor Vukas Radonjić said earlier today in his closing arguments in the "Apartments" case that this trial is not politically motivated.
"The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) acted in accordance with the law in this proceeding and I reject any claim by the accused and their expert defense that this is a politically motivated proceeding. On the contrary. The proceeding was initiated solely on the basis of my free prosecutorial conviction. I have never in my career engaged in initiating criminal proceedings or proceedings in general, with any other goal, except because I believed that there was a basis for suspicion or a higher degree of suspicion that certain persons had committed a criminal offense for which they are responsible ex officio. I believe that the guilt of the accused has been unequivocally proven," said Radonjić.
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Closing arguments were given before the Podgorica High Court, and the trial is being led by Judge Vesna Kovačević.
An indictment was filed against the defendants Predrag Bošković, Budimir Šegrt, Suad Numanović, Sanja Vlahović, Ivan Brajović, Dražen Miličković, Damir Šehović, Dragica Sekulić, Osman Nurković, Suzana Pribilović, Jelena Radonjić and Aleksandar Jovićević, due to the existence of reasonable suspicion that, in the period from 2016 to 2020, as members of the Housing Commission of the Government of Montenegro, they, as co-perpetrators, committed the extended criminal offense of abuse of official position, for which a prison sentence of two to 12 years is prescribed.
"The defendants are charged with the fact that, contrary to the Decision on the method and criteria for solving the housing needs of officials, which stipulated that the solution of housing needs is realized according to the plan for solving housing needs that contains the amount of funds for granting loans to improve housing conditions, that can grant a loan to improve housing conditions in the amount of up to 15.000 euros, and that the amount of the loan is determined based on the scope of work assessed by the expert committee of the then Property Administration, without a plan for solving housing needs and assessment by the expert committee of the Administration, approved and granted housing loans for improvement of living conditions for 119 public officials and employees in state bodies and state administration bodies, in amounts between 17.500 and 40.000 euros, thus benefiting them and causing damage to the budget of Montenegro, in the total amount of 2.604,740,59 euros. Radonjić explained then.
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