Former Assistant Director of the Police Administration Zoran Lazović said that it was not true that he requested the lifting of the ban on entering Montenegro for Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković.
After Special Prosecutor Miloš Šoškić read two indictments against Lazović and former Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoj Katnić, and Special Prosecutor Saša Čađenović, for creating a criminal organization, abuse of office and money laundering, the trial began today at the Higher Court in Podgorica, before a special panel presided over by Judge Veljko Radovanović.
Pleading guilty to the seven-count indictment, Lazović stated that he would plead guilty to all counts. He stated that he had planned not to speak for long, but that since everything was being audio-recorded, and that there would be traces, he wanted to present his defense.
"I understand what I am being charged with. I do not admit to any criminal offense. The prosecutor has definitely convicted me. I will answer questions from the court and the defense. It is not true that I requested the lifting of the ban on entering Montenegro for Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković," said Lazović.
He pleaded guilty to the charge of abuse of office.
"It is not true that I asked Enis Baković to lift the ban on entry into Montenegro for members of the OKG from Serbia, Veljko Velivuk and Marko Miljković. I did not give any verbal or written order regarding this. Considering the position I held at the time, it was not within my jurisdiction," said Lazović.
He added that the service received information that Damir Hodžić and Adis Spahić had disappeared in Montenegro. According to the SDT indictments, Hodžić and Spahić were killed on October 14, 2020 in the Stanjevića Rupa settlement in Spuž, in the house of Ratko Živković.
"During that period, L. Vukićević from Serbia also disappeared. When we suspected that Hodžić and Spahić might have been killed, we contacted our colleagues from Serbia to check whether the disappearances of these individuals were connected. These individuals were identified as members of clans," said Lazović.
He added that they then came to know that Hodžić and Spahić were last located in the territory of Danilovgrad and that during that period, in that area, according to the service's data, two encrypted phones imported from Serbia were also noticed.
He pointed out that they also organized meetings with colleagues from Serbia and exchanged information regarding this case. He stated that they then came to know that one user of the encrypted phone, who was located in the territory of Danilovgrad, was then located in the territory of Serbia.
"Colleagues from Serbia told us that an encrypted phone was then switched off near the 'Partizan' stadium in Belgrade, and that they did not identify the user. And then we received information that persons from Serbia, Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković, were coming to Montenegro. I received this information from my colleague Milorad Žižić, who was informed by Milovan Pavićević, the then head of the Central Police Station in Podgorica. And he was informed by the head of the Belgrade Police," said Lazović.
Katnić also pleaded not guilty to any criminal offense.
"I understand what I am being charged with. I will answer the questions of the president of the council and the defense. I will not answer the questions of the special prosecutor Miloš Šoškić and I will state the reasons. He was obliged to establish the facts truthfully and completely, but he did not do so. He falsified evidence. He did the opposite and hid evidence. He did the same today during the reading of the indictment. He stated that the indictment KS 117/23 was filed against me and Lazović, as if Saša Čađenović had committed criminal offenses with us, but he filed the indictment KS 350/22 against Saša Čađenović," said Katnić.
Defendant Čađenović also said that he was not guilty of any criminal offense, and that he would present his defense in court.
Katnić's defense attorney, attorney Nikola Martinović, then addressed the trial panel.
"I am interested in the status of Saša Čađenović. When I ask questions regarding the indictment of Lazović and Katnić, will he answer as a witness or as an accused? Let's clarify that first," he said.
Following up on his words, lawyer Zoran Piperović, Lazović's defense attorney, emphasized that it is crucial to determine the status of Saša Čađenović.
"Saša Čađenović becomes a member of a criminal organization on the day Zoran Lazović and Milovoje Katnić's functions cease. From that moment on, Saša Čađenović remains alone in the OGK, there is no one else but him. You do not have an organized criminal group from the start. The Criminal Procedure Code gives you the procedural opportunity to discuss this," said Piperović, addressing the trial panel.
The president of the panel of judges, Veljko Radovanović, gave a break.
The decision of the pre-trial panel of the Higher Court in Podgorica confirmed the indictment of the SDT, charging Lazović with having committed the criminal offenses of creating a criminal organization under Article 401a, paragraph 1, in conjunction with paragraph 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, abuse of official position under Article 416, paragraph 1, of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, abuse of official position under Article 416, paragraph 1, in conjunction with Article 23, paragraph 2, of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, the extended criminal offense of money laundering under Article 268, paragraph 1, in conjunction with Article 49 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, and the extended criminal offense of illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosives under Article 403, paragraph 2, in conjunction with paragraph 1 in connection with Article 49 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, and the defendant MK is charged with the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization under Article 401a, paragraph 2 in connection with paragraphs 1 and 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, two criminal offenses of abuse of official position under Article 416, paragraph 1 in connection with Article 23, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro and the criminal offense of illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosives under Article 403, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro. According to the panel, the evidence presented in the indictment justifies the existence of reasonable suspicion that the defendants Lazović and Katnić committed the criminal offenses charged against them in the indictment.
In October last year, the Special State Prosecutor's Office submitted an indictment against Lazović and Katnić to the Higher Court in Podgorica, charging them with creating a criminal organization, abuse of official position, the extended criminal offense of money laundering, and the extended criminal offense of illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosives.
Lazović is accused of organizing a criminal organization in 2020, whose members included Katnić and Čađenović and other unknown individuals, and of collaborating with a criminal organization organized by the estranged leader of the Kavač clan, Radoje Zvicer.
The former GST is accused of abusing his official position in January 2022, together with the accused prosecutor Čađenović, who was the case handler, and of obtaining benefits for the accused Petar Lazović, police officers Ljubo Milović, Radoje Zvicer and Duško Roganović, and seven other members of that criminal organization.
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