The trial of defendant Milovan Burić and other defendants for cocaine smuggling continued today at the Higher Court in Podgorica, with the presentation of evidence and correspondence.
The defendants' defense attorneys, attorneys Stefan Jovanović, Matija Bulatović, Danilo Mićović, Srđan Lješković and Zdravko Begović, objected to the evidence.
They believe that the "screenshots" shown cannot be evidence in court, which was shortened, and that the defense did not have the opportunity to make a statement.
The defense was particularly struck by the fact that these "screenshots" contained a section entitled "timestamp Amsterdam" and they believe that the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) did not offer an explanation of what it was about.
The defense believes that the entire sky communication came from the competent authorities of the Netherlands, and not, as is commonly believed, from France.
"Because if we are told that we obtained the Sky communication through international legal assistance from France, and it turns out that the Sky communication was obtained by the Dutch authorities, that is a big difference. This fact affects the legal validity of this evidence and the entire procedure," objected lawyer Jovanović.
The defense objected because the screenshot contains multiple sections, or rather an Excel spreadsheet, because an Excel spreadsheet is subject to change.
The second section contains communications from certain PINs and the content of the communication. The Defense considers that certain sections are unclear.
Defendant Milovan Burić objected to the evidence presented by Sky Communications.
He stated that in a certain section of the screenshot, several foreign languages were listed - Croatian, Romanian, Italian and Slovak - and that it was not clear to him what this referred to.
The accused are Milovan D. Burić, known as Ćićo from Bar, Zoran R. Kovačević from Bar, an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Forest Service of the Regional Center South Bar, Nenad M. Novović, known as Neno, Rade D. Vojvodić from Bar, Nedeljko A. Brkan from Bar and Zoran K. Drešić from Bar.
All defendants presented their defense before the court and denied the allegations in the special prosecutor's indictment at the trial in February.
The indictment of the special state prosecutor states that the person who used the PINs IMYXQ9, X1E4AE and UM3GRZ and the nicknames Bolivar", "GIL" and "YAKDLLS" on the encrypted SKY ECC application during September 2020 created and organized a criminal organization that operated until March 2021 in the territory of Montenegro, the Republic of Serbia, the Kingdom of Belgium, Australia, the Kingdom of Spain, Suriname and in international territorial waters, and whose members during the period of organization and operation were the defendants Milovan Burić, Zoran Kovačević, Zoran Drešić, Nenad Novović, Nedeljko Brkan, Rade Vojvodić, as citizens of Montenegro, and several unidentified persons, and whose aim is to commit the criminal offenses of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs. By which the defendants Milovan Burić, Zoran Kovačević, Zoran Drešić, Nenad Novović, Nedeljko Brkan and Rade Vojvodić committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization under Article 401a paragraph 2 in connection with paragraphs 1 and 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
In order to implement the criminal plan, the defendants Zoran Kovačević, Milovan Burić, Zoran Drešić, Nenad Novović, Nedeljko Brkan and Rade Vojvodić, as citizens of Montenegro, the person who used the pin IMYXQ2020 on the encrypted SKY ECC application and the currently unidentified sailor on the ship MSC "JOANNA", were accused from September to December 9, from the port of Antwerp in the Kingdom of Belgium to near Sydney in Australia. The defendant Zoran Kovačević, as an official of the Police Administration of Montenegro, by taking advantage of his position, participating in the act of commission with intent, jointly committed a criminal offense and, by implementing a joint decision with another act with intent, significantly contributed to the commission of the criminal offense, illegally transported for sale 150 kilograms of the narcotic drug cocaine and 59 kilograms of the narcotic drug methamphetamine.
The defendants committed as co-perpetrators, namely defendant Zoran Kovačević, the criminal offense of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs under Article 300, paragraph 4 in conjunction with paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 23, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, and defendants Milovan Burić, Zoran Drešić, Nenad Novović, Nedeljko Brkan and Rade Vojvodić, the criminal offense of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs under Article 300, paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 23, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
Lawyer Zdravko Begović: "Sky" messages unreliable due to use of artificial intelligence"
Special Prosecutor Jovan Vukotić said at the trial today that artificial intelligence was used when analyzing certain Sky messages.
"When the defense lawyers insisted that this be included in the court record, prosecutor Vukotic said that special software was used, referring to artificial intelligence. The defense emphasized and we used this information as confirmation of the defense's thesis that all messages are imprecise and unreliable, and that their authenticity cannot be verified, precisely because they were obtained illegally and using artificial intelligence," lawyer Zdravko Begovic, defense attorney for defendant Milovan Buric, told Vijesti.
Bonus video:
