The Higher Court in Podgorica held a review of the indictment against the defendants Emil Tuzović, Stefan Đukić Mandić, Milan Brajović, Goran Milašinović, Stefan Janković, Ivan Čarapić and Milovan Sekulović today, who during the second half of 2019, together with the late Damir Hodžić, became members of a criminal organization organized on the territory of Montenegro by the late Mile Radulović and Alan Kožar.
In addition to this, they are also charged with the aggravated murder of Serbian citizens Filip Marjanović and Vukašin Gošović.
The defense pointed out numerous shortcomings in the indictment of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), and the key point was that it lacked material and personal evidence, and that everything was based on wiretapped communications.
Lawyer Nikola Tomković, defense attorney for the defendant Brajović, who is accused of having killed Marjanović and Gošović in his house, i.e. for aggravated murder, pointed out serious shortcomings in the indictment.
"The indictment does not contain a single piece of evidence against Brajović, who does not know the other defendants. All of these are blanket claims, because there is neither material nor personal evidence against Brajović. Sky communication, by itself, cannot be the only evidence. The indictment does not state in which house the murder was committed. There is a house that has not been used for more than 40 years, which has not been painted, there are cobwebs left, so there should be evidence from blood on the walls that the murder was committed. In addition, who determined that Marjanović and Gošović died? How do we know that they were killed. All of this points to the conclusion that the indictment cannot be confirmed, nor a guilty verdict rendered," said Tomković.
Lawyer Miloš Vuksanović said that there is no evidence against Milašinović, both in this and the "Veruša" case, because everything is based on evidence from wiretaps. He believes that a conviction cannot be based solely on wiretaps.
"This man Goran Milašinović is 'setting himself up' with this indictment, just like in the 'Veruša' case. There are mentions of sky messages, but there is not a single message that Milašinović sent. He should be acquitted, just like in the 'Veruša' case. Someone's death can only be determined by an expert examination, and we don't have that in this case. We don't know whether these people are alive or dead," Vuksanović pointed out, adding that he proposes that the indictment be returned to the SDT.
Lawyer Maja Turković, the defense attorney for Stefan Janković, accused of aggravated murder as an accomplice and the creation of a criminal organization, believes that the indictment is legally untenable, and that it is speculation without evidence.
"The SDT indictment does not contain sufficient evidence for a reasonable suspicion that the defendant Stefan Janković committed criminal offenses. The indictment is unlawful and legally untenable, both for procedural and substantive reasons. The indictment does not contain specific and credible evidence for each of the essential elements of the criminal offenses that the defendant is charged with, but is based and constructed solely and solely on the sky communication. According to the defense, it cannot be evidence in criminal proceedings because it was illegally obtained and is the product of a violation and the grossest violation of a whole series of domestic and foreign legal regulations. In the absence of other material and personal evidence that would possibly validate the sky communication, I see the suspension of the proceedings as the only possible epilogue to this proceeding," she said.
Turković said that "a detailed analysis of the sky communication that, according to the prosecution, took place between the defendants here, in which the defendants, as alleged members of a criminal organization, talk among themselves about the details of the murder of the injured parties, as well as their alleged communications with members of the opposing criminal organization, shows that no one mentions the defendant Stefan Janković anywhere, nor does it describe the way in which this defendant participated in the event."
"Therefore, it remains completely unclear on what basis the prosecution linked the defendant Janković to the event in question. Grounded suspicion cannot be built on mere interpretations of the sky communication. Apart from the aforementioned correspondence, the indictment does not propose any material or personal evidence that would confirm the merits of the accusation. The sky communication itself, which was submitted by the prosecution, was not accompanied by material evidence, nor was it confirmed by witnesses or expert opinions that would confirm its authenticity and legality. I also point out to the court that in this specific criminal matter, it is not enough to assume that the people who disappeared are not alive, it is necessary and essential to prove it. The burden of proof is on the prosecution, to prove that the victims were killed, as well as to provide the court with and explain the reasons why the bodies or body parts of the victims cannot be found, which the prosecutor did not do in this indictment," said Turković.
She also said that the prosecutor did not prove the murders.
"He did not prove the consequence, and therefore we do not have the act. In serious crimes such as murder, the existence of the victim's body and the autopsy findings are key evidence. And the fact is that in this specific case we do not have the bodies of the injured parties or the autopsy findings. An autopsy is the only reliable way to legally determine whether death occurred, when it occurred, in what manner, and whether it was a violent death. Without an autopsy, the court has no basis to conclude the cause of death and therefore to qualify the act as murder, so continuing these proceedings would be completely pointless. I propose that the court suspend the proceedings in relation to the defendant Stefan Janković because there is not enough evidence to prove that he is a reasonable suspect for the acts that are the subject of the charges," Turković pointed out.
Lawyer Petar Đukanović also stressed that there is no evidence against Stefan Đukić Mandić. He believes the indictment is an improvisation and suggested that the court dismiss it.
Lawyer Damir Lekić, defense attorney for Emil Tuzović, specifically pointed out that the indictments are being confirmed en masse.
"I am certain that this panel will confirm the indictment. The case files contain evidence that was not obtained in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code and the court should exclude it as legally invalid evidence. All evidence of sky communications is unreliable and untrustworthy. What is particularly striking is that the 'creators' of this material, the French, found themselves in a bind and turned to the court in Strasbourg, asking whether the sky application can be used as evidence. I propose to the court to suspend this procedure," he stated.
Lawyer Danilo Mićović said that the indictment against Milovan Sekulović does not contain any explanation, and is unclear and incomprehensible. He believes that no evidence indicates that he committed the murder.
"The indictment does not provide specific and decisive facts about the actions committed by Sekulović, because there is absolutely no material and personal evidence against him. The PIN he allegedly used on Skype was only active in November 2020, while the indictment states that he became a member of a criminal organization in 2019. I propose that the Skype communications be removed from the case file as legally invalid evidence," Mićović stated.
Brajović: With this indictment, the SDT has made my life and that of my family hell
Brajović said at the hearing that "SDT made life hell for him and his family."
"This indictment against me, that murders were committed in my house in the village of Jelenak near Danilovgrad, is a construction and evil intention of the SDT, so that I would remain in detention indefinitely. They have made my life and that of my family hell. The prosecutor recycled sky messages from six CDs and compiled them into one indictment. Every judge knows that messages older than three years cannot be used, and here the messages mentioned are four to six years old and are unusable. The SDT has made my life hell based on someone's lies. I call on this council and the entire public of Montenegro to come to my house and see if the murders took place. Selective justice is worse than injustice. The SDT is hiding sky communications that prove my innocence and has selectively shown them, thus manipulating the messages. The trial council has a clear case that this indictment should be dismissed and the court proceedings suspended. This is shameful. This is the prosecutor's evil intention to keep me in detention," he said. is today, among other things, Brajović.
What does the indictment say?
The indictment states that the criminal organization aimed to commit crimes in order to gain illegal power, with each member of the criminal organization having a predetermined task and role, and its actions planned for unlimited violence.
In the way that the late Mile Radulović and Alan Kožar recruited the defendants themselves or through other persons as members of the criminal organization, in order to commit murder and aggravated murder. Thus, the defendants Emil Tuzović, Stefan Đukić Mandić and the late Damir Hodžić had the task of acting on the orders of the late Mile Radulović and Alan Kožar as organizers, to, together with the late Alan Kožar and the defendant Milan Brajović, deprive the members of the opposing criminal organization of their lives, whom the late Mile Radulović and Alan Kožar had ordered to be killed out of ruthless revenge and to previously extort from them all information about the activities of the opposing criminal organization. By which the defendants Emil Tuzović, Stefan Đukić Mandić, Milan Brajović, Goran Milašinović, Ivan Čarapić and Milovan Sekulović committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization.
The late Mile Radulović and Alan Kožar, as organizers, in the second half of 2019, created a criminal plan to ruthlessly kill members of an opposing criminal organization, citizens of the Republic of Serbia Filip Marjanović and Vukašin Gošović, in a cruel manner, out of ruthless revenge, for whom the organizers had information that they had previously killed a member of their criminal organization, Zijad Nurković. After the injured parties agreed to come from the Republic of Serbia on September 15, 2019 and enter Montenegro via border crossings, they hired the defendants Čarapić and Sekulović, who were nicknamed "Šljuka" and "Naočarko" in the criminal organization, to use a Peugeot 207 vehicle provided for that purpose by the defendant Emil Tuzović to wait for and accept the injured parties Filip Marjanović and Vukašin Gošović after their illegal entry into Montenegro, and then transport and hand over the injured parties to the defendant Emil Tuzović, which the defendants Ivan Čarapić and Milovan Sekulović accepted. By creating the conditions and removing obstacles for the commission of the criminal offense, they intentionally assisted the defendant Emil Tuzović in committing the criminal offense of aggravated murder, and the defendant Goran Milašinović in committing the criminal offense of aggravated murder by aiding and abetting. They transported and handed over to the defendant Emil Tuzović who was waiting for them with a BMW X4 vehicle" and which was given to him for this purpose by the defendant Goran Milašinović, and on that occasion they transferred the suitcases of the injured parties to the BMW X4 vehicle.
After which, the defendant Emil Tuzović transported the injured parties to Spuži, where the defendants Milan Brajović and Stefan Đukić Mandić waited for them at an unspecified commercial facility so that the defendant Brajović, as a local resident, could show them the way to the village of Jelenak, and then the injured parties were transported together to a house provided by the defendant Milan Brajović in that village. The indictment states that they forcibly extracted information from the injured parties Filip Marjanović and Vukašin Gošović that they, as direct perpetrators, had deprived the life of a member of their criminal organization, Zijad Nurković, and had attempted to kill Stefan Janković, known as "Krpa" and "Fantom". After which, between September 15 and 16, 2019, in a cruel manner and out of ruthless revenge, the defendants Emil Tuzović and Stefan Dukić Mandić killed Filip Marjanović and Vukašin Gošović out of greed and inflicted multiple blows to the head and body with baseball bats.
Using the bayonet of an AK 47 automatic rifle, Tuzović inflicted multiple stab wounds on the body, from which they died. They then jointly hid the remains in a currently unknown location and removed traces and evidence of the crime. On September 16, 2019, the late Damir Hodžić informed the organizer of the criminal organization, the late Mile Radulović, via the encrypted communication application SKY ECC.
As a result, the defendants Emil Tuzović, Stefan Đukić Mandić and Milan Brajović, as co-perpetrators, committed the criminal offense of aggravated murder, and the defendants Goran Milašinović, Ivan Čarapić and Milovan Sekulović committed the criminal offense of aggravated murder by aiding and abetting.
Bonus video:
