The Special Chamber, chaired by Judge Vesna Kovačević, today delivered a first-instance verdict at the Higher Court in Podgorica, sentencing Marko Zekić, who is on the run, and Miomir Đukić to long-term prison sentences of 40 years each for the murders of Nemanja Prelević and Danilo Peković in Veruša on October 17, 2020, and 15 years each for the attempted murder of Sujković Kenan, Sujković Ismet, and Kastrat Mirza in Berane in November 2021.
The court then sentenced them to a single sentence of 40 years in prison each. Defendant Mirčeta M. Mihajlović (45) was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the criminal offense of aggravated murder by aiding and abetting, of Nemanja Prelević and Danilo Peković in Veruša on October 17, 2020.
The defendants Goran Milašinović, Dragan Biletić, Zlatko Drašković and Branislav Ivanović were sentenced to ten years each for murder by aiding and abetting. In the explanation of the convicting part of the verdict, the judge said that the Sky communication was valid evidence obtained from France. She stated that Zlatko Drašković followed Nemanja Prelević and studied his habits, while Mihajlović carried a rifle in his backpack and handed it over to Zekić and Đukić.
"The court considered that Sky was legally valid evidence that was obtained legally from France. In Sky messages, the defendant Zekić stated that he had a conflict with Prelević at the "Garden" restaurant, and asked to be followed. He also mentioned a weekend house in the town of Uvač where Prelević was. The Sky messages were confirmed because it is true that Prelević had a weekend house in that town. Prelević was killed at the door of the weekend house at close range. Zekić was worried whether traces could be found. After he decided to kill Prelević, he asked the other defendants to locate him. Zekić and Miomir Đukić had been together since August 2020, and they were hiding in "sheltered" apartments. The Sky messages are consistent with other evidence. That Mihajlović was an accomplice in the murder is confirmed from Sky messages, because he followed Prelević's movements and informed Zekić. Then Zekić sends a message that they did the job well and that there is no traces. The fuses for the electricity supply to Prelević's weekend house were disconnected by Zekić, M. Đukić and Mihajlović. It was also established that the defendants Ivanović, Milašinović, Biletić and Drašković helped to kill Prelević and that they followed his movements. They were aware of the vehicle Prelević was driving.
"When determining the sentence, the court did not find a single mitigating circumstance for Zekić. All the defendants have been convicted multiple times," said judge Vesna Kovačević in explaining the verdict.
The court acquitted Vasilije M. Đukić and Nenad M. Milačić of the criminal offense of aggravated murder committed by aiding and abetting under Article 144, Item 8, in conjunction with Article 25 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro. Judge Vesna Kovačević issued a decision terminating their detention and they must be immediately released.
Due to lack of evidence, the court acquitted the defendant Marko S. Zekić /34/ of the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization under Article 401a, paragraph 1, in conjunction with paragraph 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, as well as the defendants Miomir Ž. Đukić /35/, Mirčeta M. Mihajlović /45/, Vasilije M. Đukić /29/, Dragan Z. Biletić /40/, Goran M. Milašinović /46/, Nenad M. Milačić /40/, Branislav S. Ivanović /41/ from Podgorica, currently at large, Dragan Tarić /32/ from Užice, Republic of Serbia, currently at large, of the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization under Article 401a, paragraph 2, in conjunction with paragraphs 1 and 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
Zlatko Drašković was acquitted of the criminal charge of money laundering. Judge Kovačević said in the explanation of the acquittal part of the verdict that the creation of a criminal organization had not been proven, and that Sky Communications was not and could not be the only evidence.
"Regarding the criminal organization from which they were acquitted, the court believes that there is no other evidence for that crime than Sky communication. Sky cannot be the only evidence used to prove a crime," said Judge Kovačević.
The SDT indictment states that the defendants Marko Zekić, Miomir Đukić and Mirčeta Mihajlović, on 17.10.2020 in the town of Uvač, Podgorica Municipality, intentionally, by prior agreement and together deprived the lives of several persons. After obtaining information that the injured parties would be in the house of the injured party Prelević Nemanja in the town of Uvač on 17, they conveyed the same to the direct perpetrators of the criminal offenses, Marko Zekić, Miomir Đukić and Mirčeta Mihajlović, after which the defendants Marko Zekić, Miomir Đukić and Mirčeta Mihajlović went to the town of Uvač. Where, in order to further implement the criminal plan, Mirčeta Mihajlović carried firearms in his backpack, namely a 10 mm automatic rifle and a 2020x7.62 mm pistol, and upon arrival in the village of Uvač, he handed over the weapons to the defendants Marko Zekić and Miomir Đukić, who came to the house owned by the injured party Prelević, where after a short struggle in front of the house, at the front door, they killed Nemanja Prelević by firing several projectiles into his upper body and head, causing the injured party to die due to the destruction of vital brain centers. After which they entered the injured party Prelević's house and fired several projectiles from the marked firearm into the head and upper body of the injured party Peković Danilo, causing him wounds, causing the injured party to die due to the destruction of vital brain centers. After which they left the scene.
On November 18, 11, at around 2021:22,00 p.m. on St. Sava Street in Berane, according to a previous agreement and a developed plan for the joint commission of a criminal offense, the defendants Zekić Marko and Đukić Miomir attempted to kill the injured parties Sujković Kenan, Sujković Ismet and Kastrat Mirza. They were driving a "Golf IV" passenger car with Budva license plates along St. Sava Street, driven by the defendant Đukić Miomir, while the defendant Zekić Marko was in the back seat. After passing a passenger vehicle, a "Volkswagen Passat B6" with license plate BA AC 105, driven by the injured party Sujković Kenan, with the injured party Sujković Ismet in the passenger seat, while the injured party Kastrat Mirza was in the back seat, at the intersection leading to the Talum settlement, the defendant Đukić Miomir turned the vehicle around and started following the injured party's vehicle, which he caught up with on Svetog Sava Street on the section of the road between the Berane General Hospital and the "Panto Mališić" high school. While overtaking the injured party's vehicle, the defendant Zekić Marko fired several projectiles from an automatic rifle of unknown make, serial number and caliber, which weapon was wrapped in a bag, through the open rear right window of the vehicle in the direction of the vehicle in which the injured party was located, which projectiles hit the injured party, causing bodily injuries to the injured party, namely Sujković Kenan in the form of three gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, which injuries qualify as particularly serious bodily injuries, while Kastrat Mirza suffered serious bodily injuries in the form of a gunshot wound to the right knee.
By doing so, the defendants Zekić Marko and Đukić Miomir committed the criminal offense of aggravated murder in attempted complicity under Article 144, paragraph 1, item 8 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
Jovanović: There is no material or personal evidence
Defendant Zekić's defense attorney, attorney Stefan Jovanović, announced an appeal against the first-instance verdict.
"This is something that, as you know, is not final. So you really can't expect any more detailed comments. But what can be said at first, in jargon, is that the court's determination in the part that relates to the conviction, the part that convicts certain defendants, according to the defense, does not correspond to the state of the case files. So there is not a single piece of material or personal evidence. We would have heard in the reasoning today, evidence that would justify the decision in that part," emphasized attorney Jovanović.
He added that the defense was not allowed to discuss all the disputed issues in the adversarial part.
"That is, practically, to prove the innocence of all these persons, who were ultimately convicted. Because you know for yourself that the defense proposed more than 20 pieces of evidence, and considering such a complex case and the gravity of the crimes, only one piece of evidence proposed by the defense was accepted, and that partially," he noted. He believes that this in itself speaks volumes that the defense was unable to discuss all the issues.
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