The trial of the former director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) Jelena Perović and her assistant Nina Paović continued today at the Podgorica High Court with testimony from employees of that institution.
The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) charges Perović and Paović with abuse of official position and the continued criminal offense of forging an official document.
According to the indictment, from August 2020 to March 2024, Perović unlawfully abused her official position and exceeded her authority, thereby obtaining material benefits of around 86 thousand euros for herself and others.
The prosecution's document states that the disputed actions included issuing decisions on the payment of variable salary and overtime, concluding service contracts that were not recorded in the official books, as well as calculating and presenting the costs of business trips and the use of mobile phones, which, according to the indictment, were not in accordance with the law.
Ana Mijušković, who was an independent advisor for international relations at ASK while Perović was at the head of that institution, said today that she knew nothing about the official trips of the former director of that institution, nor whether she worked on national and religious holidays.
Mijušković said that she received variables based on the increased workload, that her overtime pay was paid in accordance with the number of hours she worked, and that she logged in with an electronic card when she came to work.
When asked by Perović's lawyer, Nikola Martinović, whether she had seen Nikola Lekić, from whom, according to the indictment, Perović and Paović obtained material benefit by illegally exploiting their official position - by signing a service contract with him that was not registered in the register and paying net compensation even though there was already another service contract for the same work - Mijušković said that she had seen him and that he worked at ASK.
"I don't know what jobs he did, but I know he worked under a contract," she said.
A member of the ASK's inventory commission for movable and immovable property, Stana Kraljević, said before the High Court that she had been discharged from certain mobile phones, and according to her, the commission agreed that these devices were damaged.
"I didn't see it with my own eyes, and the minutes were taken by the commission president, Ivan Batrićević," she said, adding that Perović did not suggest what the minutes should look like.
Kraljević also said that she did not know anything about Perović's official trips, nor whether the former director worked during national and religious holidays. She also said that she knew Lekić and that he was employed at ASK, but that she did not know what jobs he performed.
Another member of the commission, Dalibor Šaban, testified today before Judge Simo Rašović, saying that he signed off on the expenditure of fixed assets and that Perović did not influence him.
"I didn't look at any of the items that were subject to write-off, I don't know if the mobile phones were subject to write-off," he said.
He also said that he worked overtime on a couple of occasions and that he was paid variable pay due to the increased workload in the department for initiating administrative and misdemeanor proceedings.
Šaban said that he knew nothing about Perović's official trips, nor about her work during religious and state holidays, and that he had watched Lekić, but that he did not know what jobs he performed.
Batrićević and former ASK Council President Momčilo Radulović did not testify at today's hearing, although the court summoned them. Judge Rašović said that they will testify tomorrow, when Lekić, former Perović assistant Boris Vukašinović and ASK Finance Sector Manager Zorica Ćupić will also testify.
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