Lawyer Marta Šćepanović, who represents Zoran Bećirović and Mladen Mijatović, accused of attacking "Pobjeda" journalist Ana Raičković, has filed a criminal complaint with the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) against judge Ilija Radulović "for grave violations of the human rights of her clients, who have been unlawfully detained since April 24, 2025," Bećirović's family announced today.
The statement states that "although Judge Radulović orally extended the detention when announcing the verdict on April 24, to date he has not issued a legally required special decision on the extension of detention, nor has it been delivered to the defendants, their defense attorneys, or any other authorized person."
It is stated that according to the law, detention cannot last even a single day without such a decision, which means that detention is illegal and contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights.
"Bećirović and Mijatović have been in custody for 29 days without a mandatory decision being issued and served on them, which they have the right to appeal, which represents a serious violation of their rights guaranteed by the constitution and international conventions. How serious the violation of their rights is stems from the fact that Article 376, paragraph 5 of the Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that the court is obliged to decide on an appeal against a decision to extend detention after the verdict is pronounced within three days, that is, urgently. And in their case, the decision has not been issued for almost a month," Šćepanović stated.
The statement also states that Zoran Bećirović and Mladen Mijatović have been in custody since November 11, 2024.
"The proceedings in the aforementioned case were concluded on April 16.4.2025, 28.3.2025. The Council of the Basic Court in Podgorica last extended their detention on March 24, XNUMX, while Judge Radulović formally, orally, ordered the extension of detention on April XNUMX, but without the mandatory adoption of a special decision on the extension of detention," the statement said.
In her criminal complaint against the judge, Šćepanović also warned of the possibility of backdating the decision if the court subsequently tried to cover up the illegality, and as a preventive measure, she requested an expert assessment of the court's IT system.
"For this reason, Šćepanović calls on the competent judicial authorities to urgently react and stop further unlawful detention, and to take measures against judge Ilija Radulović in order to prevent further erosion of the rule of law and trust in the judicial system. Zoran Bećirović, his son Luka Bećirović and Mladen Mijatović were found guilty of attacking 'Pobjeda' journalist Ana Raičković. In the first-instance verdict, which Judge Radulović orally announced on April 24, Bećirović was sentenced to one year in prison, Mijatović to ten months in prison, and Luka Bećirović to seven months of suspended sentence," the statement said.
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