The trial of the defendant Haris Kočan, charged with attempted aggravated murder against Nikola Drecun and Igor Mašanović and the murder of Radovan Marković, and of the defendant Vanja Burda, charged with aiding Kočan after the murder of Radovan Marković, began today at the Higher Court in Podgorica with the presentation of the defense.
Defendant Haris Kočan told the panel presided over by Judge Dragan Babović that he had no intention of killing Radovan Marković.
He said he regretted everything that happened.
"Regarding the criminal offense of murder that I am charged with, I emphasize that I did not intend to kill Marković. Rather, as I stated to the prosecutor, a third person handed me the rifle to check if it was unlocked and when I took it from the third person, it was fired. I inadvertently pulled the trigger. After I saw that Marković had been shot, I took him out of the car, I wanted to help him and I leaned him against a tree," said Kočan.
He explained that he himself carried the wounded Marković from the place where he was wounded to the tree and that the distance between the two places was approximately 50 to 100 meters.
"While he was conscious, I carried him to that place. I shouted. I asked for someone to come over, to help. When I saw the police car, I stopped them. They couldn't see anyone, I stopped them and I personally showed them where Marković was. While the police officer was talking to him, he was alive, conscious. I was about ten meters away from them and waited for the ambulance and police reinforcements to arrive. Only later did they arrest me," Kočan said.
He added that he ran to look for help and reached the main road. He then waited for someone to come and ask for help. He said that a police vehicle came and he stopped it.
"When I saw the police, I approached and told them where Marković was. I had no intention of killing him. If I had intended to kill him, I would not have stayed on the spot, nor would I have provided him with assistance and told the police where he was," said the accused Kočan.
"Regarding the second criminal offense I am charged with, which is the attempted murder with a stun gun that occurred in Cetinje, I emphasize that I did not commit it and that I have nothing to do with it," Kočan said in response to the indictment for the criminal offense of attempted aggravated murder against Nikola Drecun and Igor Mašanović.
Defendant Vanja Burda said he was sorry for everything that happened.
"I came to Montenegro, but I didn't know what was planned. I saw the fuel for the first time when I opened the trunk on the spot. I didn't know that someone was going to shoot. When the shooting started, I was in shock. I had no intention of harming anyone. I'm sorry for everything that happened. I had no intention of killing anyone, nor of participating in anyone's murder," said defendant Burda.
After being informed of the differences between the statement he gave before the court today and earlier during the prosecutor's investigation, the accused Burda said that he was in a state of shock at the time.
After the court briefed him on the defense presented today by the accused Haris Kočan, the accused Burda stated: "That's how it was as Haris Kočan said. I saw in his eyes that they were blurry, that he was not aware of the words I was saying to him, that we should press on the wound to stop the bleeding, I was telling him. He ran to seek help as soon as possible, someone who would help."
The indictment alleges that on November 20, 2023, at around 18.30:40.000,00 p.m., the defendant Haris Kočan, with intent for selfish gain, attempted to assassinate Igor Mašanović and Nikola Drecun. By accepting a proposal from an unknown person, who hired him to fire a projectile from an RPG-70.000,00 rocket launcher into a vehicle at a predetermined location in the municipality of Cetinje for an unspecified amount of money, ranging from 7 to 20 euros. The indictment alleges that on November 2023, 7, in the afternoon, carrying the marked RPG-144 rocket launcher in his hands, he waited in ambush for the vehicle carrying Mašanović and Drecun. When he spotted them, he fired an anti-tank anti-armor grenade from the aforementioned firearm, which hit the ground in front of the passenger side of the vehicle. By doing so, he committed the criminal offense of attempted aggravated murder under Article 4, paragraphs 8 and 20, in conjunction with Article 403 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, and the criminal offense of illegal possession of weapons and explosives under Article 3, paragraph 2, in conjunction with paragraphs 1 and XNUMX of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
The second count of the indictment states that on March 03, 03, in the town of Meterizi near the main road Podgorica - Cetinje, the defendant Kočan intentionally killed the injured party Radovan Marković. While he was in the vehicle with the injured party, sitting in the back seat, and Marković in the driver's seat, while the vehicle was in motion, he fired several projectiles from an automatic rifle in the direction of the injured party, two of which hit Marković in the back, resulting in death.
The defendant Kočan committed the criminal offense of murder under Article 143 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro and the criminal offense of illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosives, and the defendant Burda Vanja committed the criminal offense of assisting the perpetrator after the commission of a criminal offense under Article 387, paragraph 2 in conjunction with paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro and the criminal offense of illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosives.
Marković: I am not satisfied with the work of the police.
The representative of the injured family, Veselin Marković, father of the victim Radovan Marković, said before the court that he received information that Damir Husović set fire to the vehicle after the murder of his son.
He said that he was not satisfied with the work of the police when it came to the investigation into the murder of his son, namely the work of the directors of the Police Administration, Lazar Šćepanović and Goran Jokić.
He also had objections to the work of Interior Minister Danilo Šaranović.
"Lazar Šćepanović insulted my now deceased son and the Marković family when he stated in a statement to the media that my son was a member of an organized crime group and that he and the accused planned to commit serious crimes," he said.
The Marković family's attorney, attorney Srđan Lješković, stated that police officers questioned Radovan Marković for 25 minutes while he was wounded. Veselin Marković told the court that doctors received the call at 6:48 p.m., that the incident was reported to the police at 6:14 p.m., that the team of doctors arrived at 6:56 p.m. and completed the intervention at 7:06 p.m. "If the police had reacted in time, my son would have been alive, he died because he bled out."
Attorney Srđan Lješković said that the accused Kočan admitted to shooting.
"The question is why Radovan Marković was killed, he bled to death, why the police questioned him for 25 minutes while he was wounded."
"Lazar Šćepanović's allegations that his son spent three or four days in an abandoned house in the town of Meterizi before the murder are incorrect. On April 1, 2024, my son told me that Damir Husović had hired him to transport him and his friends to a certain place and that he would be paid for it. He told me that he would be gone for a day or two and not to worry. That same day, he left the house around 4 p.m. and never spoke again. On April 3, 2024, at around 7:30 p.m., my family and I learned through the media and from friends that he had been killed in the town of Meterizi," said Veselin Marković.
He added that two hours later he received a call from a friend who is a retired police officer who told him that the shift manager at the Podogrica Police Station had contacted him to get in touch with him.
He received information from that shift manager that the incident in which his son was killed was reported at 6:14 p.m. He then stated that on the night of the murder, between April 3rd and 4th, 2024, he received a phone call from AM from Virpazar.
"He told me that he recognized the person setting the vehicle on fire from the video released by the media and that it was Damir Husović. He recognized him by his clothing, appearance, the way he ran, the way he moved," Marković said.
Bonus video:
