The Court of Appeal of Montenegro rejected as unfounded the appeals of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica and ES's defense lawyers and upheld the verdict of the Higher Court in Podgorica, which found the accused guilty and sentenced him to two years and two months in prison for the criminal offense of child pornography, the judicial institution announced.
The statement added that the same court accepted the appeals of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica and the attorney of the injured minor, and overturned the verdict of the Higher Court in Podgorica in the part relating to the continued criminal offense of sexual intercourse with a child and returned the case in that part to the first instance court for a retrial.
The decision was made after a council session held on January 27, 2026, from which the public was excluded.
The first-instance verdict acquitted the accused of committing the continued criminal offense of sexual intercourse with a child.
"In the process of deciding on the appeals of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica and the attorney of the injured minor, the Court of Appeal determined that the first-instance verdict, in the part relating to the continued criminal offense of sexual intercourse with a child, was affected by significant violations of the provisions of criminal procedure. These violations are explained in detail in the reasoning of the verdict, and are essentially reflected in the fact that the verdict in that part does not contain reasons on decisive facts, while the reasons given are completely unclear and to a significant extent contradictory. The first-instance court was instructed that in the retrial it is necessary to eliminate the stated significant violations of the provisions of criminal procedure, present all previously presented evidence, as well as those that the court deems necessary, after which it will, through a comprehensive analysis of each piece of evidence individually and in their mutual connection, be able to make a new, lawful and correct decision," the Court of Appeal stated in a statement.
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