Budimir Krstović and his daughter Marina are demanding 720.000 euros from the state for unfounded deprivation of liberty, after they were acquitted of charges for smuggling 1.206 kilograms of cocaine by the verdicts of the Higher Court in Podgorica, and then by a final verdict of the Court of Appeal.
This will most likely not be the final amount they are seeking after suing Montenegro, as an expert opinion will follow due to the reduction in general life activities due to the unfounded deprivation of liberty.
Two separate civil proceedings are being conducted before the Basic Court in Podgorica, Ksenija Vuksanović, public relations advisor at the Basic Court in Podgorica, confirmed to Vijesti.
"There are two proceedings pending before the Basic Court in Podgorica based on a lawsuit filed by prosecutor Budimir Krstović and prosecutor Marina Krstović, for compensation for damage due to unfounded deprivation of liberty, namely: P.br. 6347/24 by prosecutor Marina Krstović, in which the plaintiff claims compensation for non-pecuniary damage due to violation of personal rights for suffered and future mental anguish due to unfounded deprivation of liberty in the amount of 60.000,00 euros. Due to violation of personal rights, violation of the right to liberty and security, the right to a fair trial, presumption of innocence, right to legal remedy, private life and the right to reputation, honor and dignity in the amount of 100.000,00 euros. The amount of compensation for damage due to the reduction of general life activities due to unfounded deprivation of liberty will be specified after the expert examination. The preparatory hearing in the aforementioned case is scheduled for July 2025, XNUMX," it is stated in the response to questions from Vijesti, submitted by email. by mail.
Budimir Krstović requested compensation of 560.000 euros, but it is obvious that this amount will increase after the expert examination.
"Case P.No. 6346/24, prosecutor Budimir Krstović requested compensation on the same grounds, but in the amounts of 60.000 euros and 500.000 euros. In the aforementioned case, an expert examination was conducted by a medical expert and the prosecutor was heard as a litigant. The next hearing is scheduled for July 2025, XNUMX," said public relations advisor Ksenija Vuksanović.
In April 2024, the Court of Appeal confirmed the acquittal of the Krstovićs, which was handed down by the first-instance Higher Court in Podgorica in July 2023.
“The first-instance verdict is clear and understandable in everything, both in the operative part and in the reasoning, and contains reasons for all decisive facts, from which it is confidently concluded that it has not been proven that the accused committed the criminal offense of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs... The first-instance court correctly drew this conclusion primarily from the witness statements, the record of the search of the warehouse premises in the village of Mataguži, owned by the accused Budimir Krstović... In the court proceedings, it was undoubtedly established, as the first-instance court correctly concludes, that the accused Budimir Krstović is the owner of the company 'San Francisco', which has been importing bananas and other fruits and vegetables since 1994. On 19 - 20. 7. 2021, his company, through the accused Marina Krstović, ordered three containers of bananas from the company 'CSA' from Ecuador, whose owner is KF, with whom the accused had a long-term cooperation. Regarding the aforementioned shipment, the accused Marina Krstović spoke with KF via WhatsApp messages, as well as via emails, after which on 28. 7. 2021, three containers with the same number of packages of bananas were loaded. On 23. 2021. 26, a ship with three containers of bananas sailed into the Port of Bar, where the containers remained until 8. 2021. 48, two of which, including the container with the narcotic drug in question, were transported to the defendant's warehouse by 'Iveco' trucks. All packages were unloaded from one truck, while part of the packages were unloaded from the other truck, including 1.206,298 packages containing the narcotic drug cocaine, with a total net weight of XNUMX kilograms," the Court of Appeals previously announced.
They also stated that the correct conclusion to draw from the translation of the messages from English is that, based on their content, it cannot be determined with certainty that the accused Marina Krstović spoke with KF "in code" in order to obtain the narcotic drug cocaine from him.
“Namely, it follows from this communication that the accused exchanged messages with KF in the period from 8. 6. to 23. 6. 2021, relating to the health condition of an unidentified person, and in a message dated 15. 7. 2021, ordered three containers from KF via email for $5,80. The content of this message does not indicate that this is a 'suspicious' order, but that it concerns fruit, specifically bananas, as indicated by the price mentioned in the message. An analysis of the content of the communications between the accused Marina Krstović and KF in Spanish, in the period from 1. 6. to 7. 6. 2021, concludes that there was an exchange of messages relating to fruit and its payment, trade, sea bills of lading, price and bargaining over the price, dates when the ship departs and whether there is space for transport... On 7. 6. 2021, the communication between the accused and KF begins at 12.11:21.02 and ends at 09:02 (XNUMX:XNUMXPM), and contains messages in which the accused asks him for quality, that she wants to have his brand as a premium, that it is top quality and looks nice, that such fruit is good. From the quoted messages, both individually and in the context of all exchanged messages, it cannot be inferred that narcotics are being discussed, so their further comment is unnecessary. When the content of the exchanged messages between the accused Krstović Marina and KF is taken as a whole, it cannot be reliably concluded that, as unfoundedly alleged in the appeal of the VDT Podgorica, a covert conversation was conducted between them, and that the subject of the conversation was narcotics, not bananas," the judgment of the Court of Appeal states, among other things.
“We went through the legal hoopla”
Budimir Krstović previously stated that his daughter and he had gone through a legal ordeal.
"The drugs were found by the American DEA, not by our services. They provided them with the information. I am not ashamed of having been in prison, but I am worried about the life of my daughter who, like me, was innocently accused. I must mention that my older daughter left London," Budimir Krstović said in his address to the court.
At the time, he claimed that former Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, together with the police, protected people he was not allowed to target, which is why he accused them innocently.
He added that the indictment is an embarrassment to the entire legal system...
"It is a devastating fact that the entire judicial system was abused by Dritan Abazović," Krstović emphasized.
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