Witness police officer Miroslav Šćekić stated today in the Higher Court in Podgorica that the seriously wounded Radovan Marković was leaning against a tree, not moving his legs or arms, and in a semi-conscious state answered his question about what had happened to him.
"He told me that he was supposed to meet a guy named Dejan and that Dejan shot him," said Šćekić.
He testified before the criminal panel of Judge Dragan Babović in the continuation of the trial of the defendant Haris Kočan, for the criminal offense of aggravated attempted murder against Nikola Drecun and Igor Mašanović and the murder of Radovan Marković, and the defendant Vanja Burda for aiding Kočan after the murder of Radovan Marković. The indictment states that the defendant Burda committed the criminal offense of "aiding the perpetrator after the criminal offense has been committed".
Šćekić spoke in detail about the meeting with the young man he met in Meterizi, who later turned out to be the accused Kočan, as well as the conversation with Marković.
This witness stated that he traveled from Podgorica to Cetinje in a white official van without markings indicating that it was a police car, with fellow police officers and his colleague Dragana Gogić, an inspector in plainclothes.
Upon arriving at Meterize, on the right side of the road, he saw a burning "Mini Morris" vehicle with Italian license plates.
"I saw smoke, a vehicle was on fire. We stopped. I noticed that the vehicle that was on fire was a 'Mini Morris' with Italian license plates. I called my colleagues to inform them. Then a 'Golf' car stopped next to us, in which Igor Mašanović was, who told me that he had seen the guy who set the 'Mini Morris' on fire and that he had filmed everything on his mobile phone. He said that the guy had run away across 'Pavlovi strana' in the direction of Rijeka Crnojevića. Then a young man (now the accused Kočan) came from the direction of the church on our left, approached us and said that he had found the wounded guy, and that he had helped him hide him in the grove. When I went to that place, I saw that Marković was leaning against a tree in a sitting position, with his eyes closed, in a semi-conscious state. He did not move his legs or arms. I knelt next to him while I talked. He spoke in a halting manner. He told me his name and surname. He said that he had come to he sees with another named Dejan and that Dejan shot him. We talked for a few minutes. After 4-5 minutes, Marković asked for water, which was brought by the owner of the nearby tavern Vujanović," said the witness.
Responding to questions from lawyer Srđan Lješković, the attorney for the injured Marković family, police officer Šćekić stated that Marković told him that his car had been set on fire.
"According to the service's rules, if a person is in a traffic accident and cannot move their arms or legs, the assumption is that there is some kind of spinal injury and we are not allowed to move them until emergency medical assistance arrives. From the time I called, the police and emergency medical assistance arrived 20-25 minutes later. Marković did not know any further details about the guy named Dejan," said Šćekić.
"Why didn't you ask him to describe the person who shot him?" asked lawyer Lješković.
"Because of his condition, I didn't bother him with questions," the witness replied.
Lješković objected to the witness's statement, because he believes he was not telling the truth.
"I believe that the witness tried in every way to protect himself from criminal liability, because he and his colleague Dragana Gogić had to crawl to help the injured Marković, and not wait for an ambulance," he said.
"I didn't have a vehicle at the scene to transport Marković to the hospital," the witness replied.
After witness Šćekić said that he could not remember whether he saw traces on the clothes of the accused Kočan, judge Dragan Babović reminded witness Šćekić that he had stated in the prosecutor's investigation: "I saw traces of blood on the clothes of the person who reported to us that a person was injured in the woods."
Responding to questions from attorney Branko Anđelić, defense attorney for the accused Kočan, the witness said that he first learned about the injured young man Marković from Kočan.
"Kocan told us that he found an injured person and that he helped him hide in a grove of trees," said Scekic.
Witness Dragana Gogić, a police officer, said that at around 18:35 p.m. in the town of Meterize, on April 3, 2024, she saw a burning "Mini Morris" vehicle on the right side of a rural road.
"There were detonations from shell casings, ammunition. The car was all in flames," she said.
Regarding the meeting and conversation with Kočan, who approached them from the left side from the direction of the church, she stated:
"He said that a friend brought him, and then that he came in a taxi, but he didn't know which association he was with, and that his phone was left in the apartment. I saw that he had a counter-story. Then we went to the place where he said the injured guy was. Šćekić approached Marković, while I was about six meters away, and Kočan was next to me. Then Šćekić told me the conversation with Marković. I didn't specifically see any wounds on his body," said Gogić, answering questions from lawyer Lješković.
"I object to the witness's testimony. Radovan Marković died from bleeding to death. I believe that she, as well as Šćekić, did not provide him with assistance as members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP), and then as citizens," Lješković believes.
"We are not allowed to move his face because we are not experts, we did not know if his spine was injured. We were afraid of causing the opposite effect," said Gogić.
Lješković: Let Lazar Šćepanović testify
Lawyer Srđan Lješković said that the family of the injured party Radovan Marković proposes to the court to hear the witness Dragan Kapetanović, a police officer from the Department for Security of Facilities, who should comment on the circumstances of the official note he submitted on April 3, 2024, on his observations and the differences between the witnesses of his colleagues Miroslav Šćekić and Dragana Gogić who were at the scene of the incident. They believe that their observations are contradictory.
He proposed that witnesses Goran Jokić and Lazar Šćepanović, high-ranking officials of the Ministry of the Interior of Montenegro, be heard.
"Jokić Goran, who stated on 24.05.2024 in the premises of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the presence of the family of the injured party's father and sister, the attorney of the injured party's family and the presence of police officers Bašanović Zoran and Rakonjac Vladimir: 'If there is no comma here, that a full stop has been put, you have nothing more to ask for', which he repeated several times. And then, speaking further, if Haris Kočan speaks in this case, 20 people will be arrested, and this all depends on the circumstances of what he meant by who he thought would be arrested, as well as what he meant when he said that the family had nothing more to ask for. Was it a silent threat that the family not search or ask unnecessary questions or maybe something else. He must explain that before this court when he is not already before the prosecution," said Lješković.
He said that Lazar Šćepanović should "testify to the circumstances of who and when conveyed false information to him, which he publicly stated in all Montenegrin media that the injured party Radovan Marković was in the town of Meterize for several days preparing to liquidate the opposing criminal group, as well as the information that the murder of Marković was planned, the circumstances of where that information came from, why he stopped revealing the person who ordered this criminal act, as he himself claims in his media appearances and captions 'That the murder of Marković was planned'".
"Who forwarded him information to confuse and spread untruths that only increased the family's pain that the injured party Marković was staying in an abandoned building in the town of Meterize in order to commit the criminal offense of opposing a criminal group. When the evidence suggests the opposite, that the injured party was in the High Court building on April 1, 2024, for a scheduled main hearing before Judge Ivan Perović and was in the presence of the injured party's attorney at all times, who represented him and his brother in the case with the business reference K. Br 95/21," said Lješković.
What does the indictment say?
The indictment alleges that on November 20, 2023, at around 6:30 p.m., the defendant Haris Kočan, with intent for selfish gain, attempted to kill Igor Mašanović and Nikola Drecun. By accepting a proposal from an unknown person, who hired him to fire a projectile from an RPG-7 rocket launcher into a vehicle at a predetermined location in the municipality of Cetinje for an unspecified amount of money, ranging from 40.000,00 to 70.000,00 euros. The indictment alleges that on November 20, 2023, in the afternoon, carrying a marked RPG-7 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 144, paragraphs 4 and 8, in conjunction with Article 20 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, and the criminal offense of illegal possession of weapons and explosives under Article 403, paragraph 3, in conjunction with paragraphs 2 and 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
The second count of the indictment states that on March 3, 2024, 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.
Bonus video:
