Duško Knežević did not flee, but left Montenegro legally. Knežević was first wanted on 28 December 2018, when a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT). Before that, he was an absolutely free citizen and was not obliged to report to any state authority. Knežević left Montenegro completely regularly.
This was stated today by Andrijana Razić, defense attorney for Knežević, whose trial in the "Kaspia 1" and "Kaspia" cases continued today.
In the continuation of the evidentiary procedure, the written evidence proposed by the indictment was read, and Razić reacted after reading a letter from the SPO Police Directorate dated December 28, 2018 stating that several Atlas Bank employees had been arrested, and it was stated that Duško Knežević left Montenegro on December 2018, XNUMX.
The court read a letter stating that at 8.17:XNUMX a.m. on that day, Knežević left Montenegro at Golubovci Airport on a regular flight from Podgorica to Belgrade, operated by Montenegro Airlines.
"This is confirmation that he left the state of Montenegro at an official border crossing, with a legitimate, valid ID document in his name. So, he did not run away," said lawyer Razić.
In the cases “Caspia 1” and “Caspia 2”, the defendants are Duško Knežević and Đorđe M. Đurđić, who had previously entered into a plea agreement. The indictment of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office charges Knežević with committing the criminal offenses of abuse of office in business through incitement and money laundering, all in connection with the sale of the “Princes” hotel in Bar. The trial is being led by Amir Đokaj.
Knežević said that former Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnić had launched an internal arrest warrant against him following his media appearances. He added that an Interpol arrest warrant was issued against him after he published the footage in the "Envelope" affair.
Razić pointed out that Great Britain had questioned Interpol's arrest warrants against Duško Knežević, stating on 10 pages that all the facts indicate that the arrest warrant was politically motivated.
"The three Interpol arrest warrants issued by Montenegro against me were revoked and deleted on August 08, 2020, on the grounds that they were politically motivated. Montenegro appealed the decision, but the Interpol Board in Lyon rejected the appeal. They then sent a letter to Montenegro requesting my extradition bilaterally from Great Britain," Knežević said at the trial.
In the evidentiary proceedings, reports from the Tax Administration, namely the Central Registry of the Commercial Court, were read out at the requests of the SDT. For 2015 and 2016, the capital of the "Atlas Hotels Group", namely the business entities HTP Korali - Bar, Trend - Sutomore, increased, and that the capital of Kaspija increased to 16.232,327 million euros, of which 3.418.000 was a non-cash amount, and the cash amount was 12.814,327 million euros.
Razić pointed out that this evidence shows that the CRPS responded to the SDT's request regarding a possible reduction in the capital of the HTP Atlas group. She added that the SDT was checking whether the capital of the "Atlas hotels group" was withdrawn on the orders of Duško Knežević, and that the thinking was aimed at proving money laundering.
"The conclusion from the evidence presented is the opposite, because capital increased significantly in 2015, which means that capital was not reduced but rather supplemented," Razić pointed out.
The indictment alleges that on May 20, 2015, Knežević intentionally persuaded Đurđić, the CEO of “Atlas Banka” AD Podgorica, to sign a guarantee and certify it with an official seal for “Kaspia Properties Holdings Limited” from Dubai, for 12,5 million euros. It is stated that Knežević is the principal and that “Kaspia Properti” is the beneficiary, which guarantees that “Atlas Banka” will pay this company a maximum of this amount of 12,5 million euros, for the purchase of the “Princes” hotel.
Bonus video:
