"I can swear that I have never seen an encrypted phone with my son Petar, nor have I had any knowledge that he has any communication with members of criminal groups. I can swear on Petar's life," said defendant Zoran Lazović today in the continuation of the trial before the special chamber of Veljko Radovanović at the Higher Court in Podgorica, answering questions from his defense attorney, lawyer Zoran Piperović.
He added that he did not receive any money from his son Petar.
"It's a crazy story that he treated me well. If I knew, he had neither the opportunity nor the freedom because he would have had to explain to me where he got the money. He is still a tenant. As a son, he was attentive, he would buy me a present for my birthday," he said in court.
He added that even in his youth, he did not take money from his family, except for the first year of college.
"Then I rolled up my sleeves. I earned money by digging canals, working on the railway, and as security in bars," said Lazović.
He pointed out that he never noticed that his son Petar lived a high life or vacationed in exotic destinations.
Lazović said that he never asked former Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnić, or any other prosecutor or judge, for any favor, not even to help Duško Roganović in terms of criminal prosecution. He claims that he never mentioned Roganović's name to Milivoje Katnić, either privately or professionally.
"I knew that reconnaissance operations were being conducted against the group of the 'Kavach' branch after the murder of Šćepan Roganović in Herceg Novi, but I did not know against whom the proceedings were being conducted. I was an operative in both the police and the ANB and I never conducted investigations and reconnaissance and I never wrote any initiative or measure. As for Petar, I was against him moving to the police from the ANB, because I knew how difficult the job was. Petar managed to get it done through the then directors of the UP and ANB. He only entered my office a few times for personal and family reasons and once when it was about finding some cocaine on the ship Budva which was later seized in Hamburg and about which we had joint actions with our colleagues from Germany.
He stated that he did not discuss with Petar or anyone else the entry of Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković into Montenegro.
"No one knew exactly when they would enter the country, whether they would or not, and our goal was to connect them with the Kavač clan in Montenegro while monitoring Belivuk and Miljković, because we had operational information that this Belgrade group was cooperating with the Kavač clan. I knew about their entry and I informed the director of the Police Department, the Special Prosecutor, the Kotor and Herceg Novi Police Department, the border police, the anti-terrorist police and Interpol, as well as part of the Podgorica Central Bureau and members of the investigation team."
He added that Enes Baković was then an assistant to the criminal police who was also aware of this.
"After the successful operation, I went to pay for a drink and congratulate Milovan Pavićević on the successful operation. It is true that I said at the time that the entire investigation team should be rewarded and there is documentation about that," said Lazović, answering more than twenty questions from lawyer Zoran Piperović.
After Belivuk and Miljković landed at the airport in Tivat, they said they informed their colleagues from Serbia, N.Ž., and he informed NM. This was both when they arrived and on their way back to Serbia. We were in constant communication with them in case there were any changes.
At the previous main trial hearing held on May 9, the defendant Lazović gave his defense after special prosecutor Miloš Šoškić read two indictments, against Zoran Lazović, former assistant director of the Police Directorate, and Milivoj Katnić, former chief special prosecutor Milivoj Katnić, and special prosecutor Saša Čađenović, for creating a criminal organization, abuse of official position and money laundering.
Pleading guilty to the seven-count indictment, defendant Zoran Lazović stated that he did not admit to any criminal offense.
The decision of the pre-trial panel of the Higher Court in Podgorica confirmed the indictment of the SDT, which charges Lazović with committing the criminal offenses of creating a criminal organization under Article 401a, paragraph 1 in conjunction with paragraph 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, abuse of official position under Article 416, paragraph 1
of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, abuse of official position under Article 416, paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 23, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, the extended criminal offense of money laundering under Article 268, paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 49 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro and the extended criminal offense of illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosives under Article 403, paragraph 2 in conjunction with paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 49 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, and the defendant MK is charged with 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, two criminal offenses of abuse of official position under Article 416, paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 23, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro and the criminal offense of illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosives under Article 403, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
The panel finds that the evidence presented in the indictment justifies the existence of reasonable suspicion that the defendants Lazović and Katnić committed the criminal offenses charged against them in the indictment.
Lazović is accused of organizing a criminal organization in 2020, whose members included Katnić, special prosecutor Saša Čađenović, and other unknown individuals, and of collaborating with a criminal organization organized by the disgraced leader of the Kavač clan, Radoje Zvicer.
Former GST Katnić is accused of abusing his official position in January 2022, together with the accused prosecutor Čađenović, who was the case handler, and of obtaining benefits for the accused Petar Lazović, police officers Ljubo Milović, Radoje Zvicer and Duško Roganović, and seven other members of that criminal organization.
Bonus video:
