Public Procurement Officer of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (APC) Jelena Dajkovic testified yesterday in the Higher Court in Podgorica that "there are always stories that some employees are privileged when it comes to variable payments", but also that Nikola Lekić occasionally looked at her at work, but he did not help her with the paperwork.
She said this in the proceedings against the former director of ASK Jelena Perović and her assistants Nina Paović, accused of abuse of official position.
According to the indictment, Perović and Paović obtained material gain from Lekić by illegally exploiting their official position - by signing a service contract with him that was not registered in the registry and paying the net compensation to the executor, even though Perović knew that it was a payment for the same work for which a service contract had already been concluded.
Before the judge Simo Rašović The witness said that she also exercised her right to a variable part of her salary, and that the director decided on it.
She answered in the affirmative to the question of defense attorney Perović, attorney Nikola Martinović - was she ever the head of the finance department? Zorica Ćupić commented that someone had been paid something illegally.
"As far as I remember, Ćupić, based on her subjective assessment, knew how to say that someone had been paid illegally, and she knew how to discuss things like that," said Dajković.
She also replied that she had never heard "that Ćupić had not signed a pay order, payroll or budget report."
In the courtroom, she said that the work at the Agency varied, but that she received variable pay when the workload increased, but also that her impression was that more work was done in the period from 2020 to 2024.
"I kept my own records of overtime hours and they were always identical to what I was paid," said Dajković, adding that she electronically recorded when she came to work, like other employees.
She pointed out that she knew nothing about Perović's official trips, nor whether the former director worked during the holidays, and that it was certainly not in her job description to know.
Dajković also said that she was not aware that Perović gave phones to people who were not employed at ASK, and that she heard this from the media.
When asked by the special state prosecutor Jovan Vukotić When asked by witness Dajković how the Agency was planning to purchase a phone, Perović objected and added "more than the prosecution and their subterfuge...", alluding to the fact that prosecutor Vukotić was distancing himself from the criminal acts that she and Paović are charged with.
Judge Simo Rašović, however, allowed the question, to which Dajković explained that "the procurement of mobile phones was planned for January 2024 in a way that the director said was the simplest way to provide medium-quality mobile phones. 25.000 euros were to be divided among 60 employees, so around 400 euros per phone, I'm not sure whether 55 or 60 phones were ultimately purchased. I don't know where those phones were kept after they were purchased, and when they were distributed, all the employees signed a debit note," she specified.
She added that she experienced the mobile phone that was given to her for use in a way that she only used it as an employee of the Agency and that she returned it after she terminated her employment.
Dajković said that Nikola Lekic was somewhat involved in the car procurement process, was not directly involved in the public procurement process, but rather helped to obtain a certificate from the Tax Administration as soon as possible.
"I saw him at work, but not every day because I'm in a remote office. He didn't participate with me in compiling the documentation," she said.
After Dajković's testimony, Martinović said that it was important to take into account that part of the answer she gave was based on assumptions, not knowledge.
She had to report the apartment.
According to yesterday's decision by the ASK, Perović violated the Law on the Prevention of Corruption because she failed to report the increase in assets or the possible existence of a conflict of interest.
In 2019, Perović sold an 86-square-meter apartment in Cetinje and a storage room for 73.000 euros, and did not submit a report on the change in her financial situation, thus violating the Law.
This is an apartment that she bought on favorable terms in 2018 for 31.960 euros, and then sold it, which is why, according to the ruling of the Podgorica Basic Court, she is obliged to return 58.539 euros and interest to the state - which her defense attorney Martinović has appealed.
He knows nothing about the trip to Ljubljana.
Agency employee Jelena Pejović She said yesterday that she did not know whether the former director worked overtime, whether she went to Ljubljana for business or private purposes, and whether she gave out her official phone numbers to anyone...
This employee in the international cooperation sector also said that in a letter she had written, which was intended to be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) during one of her official trips, she wrote that Nikola Lekić was an employee of the Agency.
"I processed that letter, and the director signed it. In a verbal agreement with her, I stated that Lekić was an employee of the Agency," said Pejović.
She explained that she then asked Perović how to put a title for him, because she was not sure whether he was a permanent employee or a "contractor."
Pejović said that she saw Lekić at work occasionally.
"I didn't work overtime, I don't know about the others. I was paid a variable salary, and I was engaged in tasks outside my job description, namely as an assistant to the department for financing political entities and election campaigns during the elections. I don't know whether Perović worked during public holidays, I don't know anything about her trip to Ljubljana - I don't know if it was a private or business trip. I don't know if she gave the phones owned by ASK to people who weren't employed by the Agency."
Perović and her defense attorney proposed to the court to obtain the Agency's statute, the Rulebook on the internal organization and systematization of jobs of that institution, as well as comparative annual reports on the work of that institution, which Judge Rašović accepted.
Prosecutor Maja Janković said that these defense proposals are irrelevant to the criminal case, but since they have a common goal, namely establishing the material truth, she will not object.
Yesterday's hearing was not attended by invited witnesses Momčilo Radulović because he was on a business trip, and Zorica Ćuković because, as the judge said, the delivery note was returned with an indication that it was not found at the addressed institution.
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