The trial of Miloš Medenica's criminal group continued with the listening to of secret surveillance conversations and the questioning of police officer Srđan Nikač.
The police officer testified before the panel of Judge Vesna Kovačević about the search of the house of the accused Vesna Medenica, stating that his task was to provide assistance and that, as far as he remembers, he searched the bedroom on the first floor of the house, where he found nothing.
He added that he was not present at the signing of the minutes, but that he stands behind everything stated in them, which was signed by the head of the hearing, his colleague Draško Kalinić.
Responding to questions from the prosecution, special prosecutor Vukas Radonjić, Nikač said that from the beginning of the search until the end of that official action, no one left the house or entered it.
"As far as I remember, no one asked me if he could leave the house during the search. Considering that I have been working since 1998, even if someone had asked me, I would not have allowed him to leave the house until the witnesses had signed the minutes and we had asked them if they had any objections," he said.
While the special prosecutor was questioning the witness, a heated argument broke out in the courtroom between the judge and Vesna Medenica's defense attorney, Zdravko Begović, as well as the attorney and Nikač.
"Don't tell me what to do. Lower your voice," Judge Kovačević told Begović, who replied: "Don't give me advice either." Nikač then scolded the lawyer, who replied: "You will implement the strategy there, where you are used to it"...
The controversy arose after Begović asked to enter into the record how Inspector Kalinić, the leader of the search, assigned his colleagues and told them to search for "objects and files"...
As the trial continued, witnesses were questioned by members of the panel, Begović and the defendant Medenica.
At one point, the lawyer asked the witness to explain how he could see from the upper floor of the house whether or not someone was leaving the building.
He also asked why he initially answered that no one had left the house, and when asked further, he said he didn't know.
"Why did you say that... Human destinies are at stake here," said Begović.
"Nobody came out," Nikač said. At that moment, someone from the audience exclaimed: "Here he is again saying - 'nobody', shame on him."
After Begović's protest, at the judge's request to clarify his answer, Nikač said: "I neither heard nor saw anyone coming out."
He also explained why he did not sign the minutes of the search, as well as why he was not present when his colleagues asked the search witnesses if they had any objections.
After Nikač's argument with lawyer Begović, when the police officer explained that after the search was over, he would take turns with the witness on the chair upstairs, adding "I'd like to sit down now too," Judge Kovačević said:
"You are acting frivolously in the courtroom. I hope you are not so frivolous when you take official actions"...
At the same time, the press crews were able to see what the panel of judges could not see - the former police officer, the defendant Lalović, was sitting with his legs propped up against the screen that separates the dock from the seats reserved for the audience.
While the former president of the Supreme Court was questioning a witness about the search of her house, Begović said to her: "Veco, no more, he has completed his mission"...
Medenica did not object to the witness's testimony, and Begović said that Nikač confirmed the folk saying - "From cheap meat, soup in the valley"...
He also assessed that the witness claimed to have seen what was impossible to see, that he denied Kalinic's statement, and then he referred to that evidence - the record of the house search, which the defense disputes:
"What kind of system, what kind of evidence... If they don't respect Vesna Medenica as a person, then they should respect her as an institution, because she was the president of the Supreme Court and a lawyer her whole life," he said...
In the continuation of the trial, conversations obtained through secret surveillance measures were listened to, which were conducted by the defendant Marko Popović and several persons, Milorad Medenica and several persons, then Nikola Raičević and an unidentified person...
A conversation between two unidentified persons was also read, during which one of them says "Ode of the Century in a fart"...
The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) is charging Miloš and his mother Vesna Medenica, Darko Lalović, Vasilije Petrović, Bojan and Marko Popović, Milica Vlahović Milosavljević, Marko Vučinić, Milorad Medenica, Luka Bakoč, Petar Milutinović, Ivana Kovačević, Radomir Raičević, Marjan Bevenja, Stevo Karanikić, Goran Jovanović and the company "Kopad Company" from Nikšić with creating a criminal organization...
They are also charged with the continued criminal offense of smuggling, the continued criminal offense of bribery, accepting bribes, unlawful influence and incitement to unlawful influence, abuse of official position, unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotics, facilitating the consumption of narcotics, unauthorized possession of weapons and explosives, grievous bodily harm, and obstruction of evidence.
Bonus video:
