"My director bought you a new iPhone": In the trial against Jelena Perović, her former associate testified

My director bought you a new iPhone, was the message she left. Nikola Lekic sent to his daughter, which was read by the prosecutor at yesterday's hearing in the Podgorica High Court Jovan Vukotic, in the case that the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) is conducting against the former director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) Jelena Perović and her assistants Nina Paović for abuse of official position and forgery of an official document.

Perović and Paović are accused of obtaining material benefit from Lekić - by signing an unregistered service contract with him and paying him net compensation, even though there was already another service contract for the same work.

According to the indictment, Perović also illegally paid variable and overtime wages, fictitiously reported business trips, forged visa documents, and paid telephone bills for family members and associates.

Lekić said yesterday that "there was probably such a message," but that his daughter did not receive a phone as a gift. He explained that he inserted his daughter's card into her work phone because, as he said, "they were being followed and stalked."

Lekić said that he was employed at ASK under a contract for services, and that his duties included compiling documentation, assisting in the preparation of statistical reports, and later organizing official trips.

"I went on business trips, someone needed to handle the organization, everything that makes the trip safe," he said.

He added that Perović gave him a work phone to use, which, in addition to him, was also used by his daughter, because, as he claims, they were being monitored at the time.

When asked by prosecutor Vukotić how long he had known Perović, Lekić replied that he had known her for between seven and eight years. When the prosecutor asked him how close they were, Jelena Perović's defense attorney, attorney Nikola Martinović, reacted by objecting to the question.

The prosecutor then asked Lekić how he came to conclude a service contract with the Agency, of all state institutions, to which Martinović replied: "He couldn't join CEDIS, because he's not a Democrat."

"The tires on the official cars were punctured three to four times, and the perpetrator was never found. Neither Perović nor Paović took it easy. Paović had punctured the tires on both his official and private vehicles, and my car was scratched all over with a wrench," Lekić said.

Lekić responded that Perović believed that he could perform the tasks she needed.

"I drove her where she needed to go, I also acted as her bodyguard because we were afraid that someone would harm her. She was being targeted, the license plates of her official car were on the front pages," said Lekić, stating that due to the circumstances of the job and the atmosphere in which they worked, he felt the need to be extra involved in the director's safety.

He said that he had never worked in government before, but also that he had previously been convicted.

"I cannot remember whether the convictions against me were expunged from the records at the time I signed the service contract, and I must say that I come from an honest family. I do not remember whether anyone asked me at the time of signing the contract whether I had any convictions," Lekić said. When asked by the prosecutor Maje Janković Asked if he went on official trips if Perović didn't, he said no.

"I did everything that was asked of me, regardless of what was written in the contract. No one from the Agency had any objections to my work," the witness said.

When asked by lawyer Martinović whether there were any media attacks on Perović, Lekić replied: "It was not an attack but persecution, and that persecution was facilitated by politicians."

He also described situations that, according to him, show that he, Perović and Paović were targets of pressure.

"The tires on the official cars were punctured three to four times, and the perpetrator was never found. Neither Perović nor Paović took it easy. Paović had punctured the tires on both his official and private vehicles, and my car was scratched all over with a key," Lekić said.

He added that Perović told him that she believed that the state, or rather individuals from the government system, was involved in these events.

Prosecutor Janković objected to Lekić's testimony, adding that he was an instructed witness for whom there was reasonable suspicion that Perović had obtained a benefit.

"I want to point out that this is not about any insinuations or indications of love affairs, but rather about facts that are the motives for committing the criminal offense," said the prosecutor.

There are people who haven't been able to read the letter.

The former deputy director of ASK also testified. Boris Vukašinović, who said that during Perović's term, 53 out of 75 systematized employees worked at the Agency, and that the Agency was "carried" by seven to eight people, including himself.

"There are employees who have been with the Agency since its inception and have not done a thing," he said, adding that he worked overtime and kept records of it in his diary.

Vukašinović stated that Lekić was hired under a contract for services, attended meetings and was in charge of logistics surrounding the director's official trips.

"He managed the fleet and drove the director. I get the impression that he was also the director's security, because as you know, the director of ASK is not a protected person," he said.

He gave the example of a business trip to Tirana, where, as he says, he organized the trip himself with the help of Lekić.

"I was looking for a vehicle for a business trip, and so I wouldn't have to think about fuel, a green card and logistics - Nikola Lekić was in charge of that," said Vukašinović. He added that he did not know whether Lekić performed administrative tasks in the registry office.

When asked by the prosecutor whether Lekić had gone on a business trip to Chisinau, the witness said that he had not.

"The original plan was for Lekić and Perović to go, but due to family obligations, the director was not on the trip, so she suggested that I go. Lekić didn't go with me, I don't know why," said Vukašinović.

He explained that the trip to Chisinau was a meeting of the Steering Board of the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI), attended mainly by members of that body, and that Lekić was not a member of the Steering Board, but neither was Perović.

Vukašinović said that Lekić was on an official trip to Egypt, where a plenary session of the signatory countries of the UN Convention against Corruption was held.

"He attended the meetings and the session like all of us, it was a plenary session. None of us had any special tasks," he said.

He pointed out that since Perović arrived at the Agency, the workload has been much greater and that she has been working during public holidays. "She attended a conference in Paris in May 2023. I am not aware of her conducting interviews with whistleblowers outside of Montenegro," Vukašinović said.

Prosecutor Janković objected to his testimony, stating that he was an instructed witness "for whom there is reasonable suspicion that Perović obtained a benefit from him in the form of the difference between actual and recorded overtime work."

Perović prolongs rehabilitation case for Lekić

"The witness's previous conviction is not intended to compromise him, but because it is important for this criminal matter. Lekić was a convicted person and this was deleted from the records in 2022. Perović must have known this, considering that she was the president of the Basic Court in Cetinje and she was the one who handled the rehabilitation case for Lekić. It is important to establish that he was a convicted person at the time of signing the contract for the service," said Prosecutor Janković.

Martinović responded that there was no need "in the world to determine whether Lekić's records were deleted or not."