In the trial in the case of digging a tunnel to the High Court Depot in Podgorica, the mother of the accused in the theft of the depot, Katarina Baćović, Maja Baćović, who is employed at the High Court as a clerk's office manager, testified before the court today.
She said she was at the scene when the hole in the wall was discovered, which she said the child could not have passed through.
"That hole was oval-shaped, and when the government delegation arrived, that opening was widened and square-shaped. I concluded that after seeing photos of the opening in the media," Baćović testified today.
According to her, the original opening was found around 10:XNUMX or XNUMX p.m. "When I went down to that room at XNUMX a.m. the next morning, the opening already looked different. The government delegation arrived around XNUMX a.m. Maybe it was widened to remove evidence, but it didn't matter to us at that moment, it was just important that something wasn't missing," said the mother of the accused.
The prosecutor denied this and said that it was a subjective view of the situation.
"I personally went out into the field that night, I think she mixed up the dates and that the authorities came to the scene the next day, and that a press conference was organized beforehand," he said, adding that the photos of the hole in the wall were taken on the night of the discovery.
"Baćović was questioned a month after the tunnel was discovered, just like other witnesses. No one indicated that anything was questionable, and these are witnesses who were direct eyewitnesses when the tunnel was discovered," the prosecutor pointed out.
The depot of the High Court in Podgorica was broken into on September 8, 2023, and the thieves stole material evidence stored in that room until September 11, it was established by the investigation of the Podgorica prosecutor's office and the police. The investigators discovered that the underground tunnel, through which the thieves entered the court depot, had been dug since the end of July.
The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica filed an indictment against the defendants Veljko M. Marković from Loznica, Milan T. Marković from Loznica, Dejan D. Jovanović from Belgrade, Vladimir M. Erić from Loznica, Predrag M. Mirotić from Zeta, Katarina D. Baćović from Podgorica , Nikola D. Milačić from Podgorica and Marijan P. Vuljaj, living in Tuzi.
Baćović described in detail what she remembers from that event.
"I was at work that day, when around eight o'clock the court archivist Mladen Radovanović came into the office and called me to tell me something, I thought it was private. He took me to the depot, unlocked the white door and showed me the lower part of the door, that it was broken, that it was crooked, I didn't understand what he was showing me because he had previously complained that a shelf had collapsed from the weight. He showed me dirty footprints along the entire hallway and took me to the end of the hallway and showed me a large pile of scattered weapons. I then realized what had happened, I was scared and said to Mladen 'what are you calling me, call the president right away'. We were skipping over the footprints and I would say they were those worker's shoes and some sneakers," she said at today's hearing.
Baćović said that the police were immediately called, and that they returned to work.
"...That is, who could work how because the news was surprising. Around five in the afternoon, the president called me to ask where I was - to which I replied 'at home' and he told me to come to the High Court, that the police had finished the investigation and that we had to list the cases. Due to the large number of police officers, our work was difficult, we were not allowed to move, to go to the toilet, they asked for personal information from everyone individually. Around one o'clock after midnight, I couldn't take it anymore. The then president of the High Court, Boris Savić, called me and said 'Maja, there is a suspicion that someone used the key', which I said was impossible," explained Baćović.
After that, according to her, she and her colleague Ina Jovanović listed everything from scratch.
"They bent over each other and I saw a piece of brick, which was unusual to me. I said, "Look at Ina's piece of brick," to which she said to turn off the air conditioner because she was sick. I moved the folder in front of me and saw a hole in the wall, which we illuminated with the phone cameras. There was a stone wall, a space, and another stone wall. The president immediately wanted to go in, but we gave up so as not to disturb something. I thought the child couldn't have passed through that tunnel. We continued the census the next morning, when we arrived in the morning there were tapes everywhere, and a foreign policeman was securing the door. Then the government delegation came, everyone went in, they took pictures, and from the public pictures I saw that the tunnel had been widened, that a lamp had been installed."
Baćović: My daughter hasn't set foot in the High Court since she was 11
Judge Borko Lončar asked Baćović what his relationship was with his daughter.
"During 2022, our relationship improved. Before that, it wasn't good, as a parent I had the right to be angry with some of her life decisions, but when the children were born I couldn't influence anything except trying to dedicate myself to those children. Our relationship was primarily for the children and for them to see that the relationship had a family atmosphere. During 2023, we spoke more on the phone, she rarely came to my place, our conversations and questions were of a general nature, she only came with the children," said the mother of the accused.
When asked by the judge whether her daughter came to work with her at the High Court, she said that "since the age of 11, Katarina has never set foot in the High Court. She has no idea where my office is or anything, and I claim that to this day she does not know exactly what I do and what my job is," she said.
She said she remembered her daughter coming to the courthouse two or three times, the last time in June when the children received their report cards with A's, and that she wanted to treat them to something because of their success.
"The next time we saw each other was on September 4th. She came to my apartment door with her children, father-in-law and mother-in-law, and I treated the children to the start of school," she said, adding that she did not know the accused Predrag Mirotic, Nikola Milacic and Marijan Vuljaj.
"Katarina never mentioned them," added Baćović.
When asked by the prosecutor whether she knew whether her daughter had a job in August 2023, Baćović replied, "Katarina always tried to find a job, she was not employed in the summer of 2023 and she supported herself with the help of her family."
Baćović: The keys to the court archives were my responsibility in July
When asked about the judge whose job it is to keep the key to the archive, Baćović said that the archivist was absent a lot during 2023, and that when the archivist is not at work, the keys are always in the court administration.
"They can only be used by an employee designated by the court president, i.e. only in situations where it is necessary for work. It is rare for a person to go to the archive alone and someone always goes with them. The keys were my responsibility in July and I only entered the archive for work. I was on vacation from August 8 to September 8," said Baćović.
She also said that it is important to mention that if those who robbed the High Court depot were motivated by a large amount of cocaine, it was not there.
"We know what to do with something so valuable. It is deposited and kept under heavy security," Baćović pointed out in response to the judge's question, adding that she does not know where in the archives the file in the Do Kwon case is located.
Bonus video:
