"At 00.01 it's too late for you, you have nothing to bring!", "Bring the debt", "Go to heaven with those two", "Your grave has collapsed", "Won't you give me a financial injection", are just some of the dozens of messages that the twenty-five-year-old Danilov resident has received. Miloš Stamatović gained for months, before, as is suspected, he took his own life by jumping into the river.
They were sent to him by those from whom he borrowed money at interest, or their "associates", who allegedly mediated in this illegal business.
Stamatović's body was found on December 20, 2022, in the Morača Riverbed in the Botun settlement. He was pulled from the water with his hands tied...
His disappearance was reported three days earlier by colleagues from the Montenegrin Post Office, after he failed to return to finish his shift.
He was receiving messages that day too, and only one of the Cetinje greengrocers called him 32 times in seven days, including on the last day Miloš was alive... Some of the messages they sent him were deleted, and from the hundreds of them, which "Vijesti" had access to, threats and pressure are visible.
Among the hundreds of messages are threats: "You give me 300 euros for every first one, don't let them go."
However, no prosecutor's office is investigating whether any of the seven Danilovgrad residents, two Cetinje residents, and one Podgorica resident, led the twenty-five-year-old to the abyss through continuous pressure and threats towards the end of 2022...
From the Higher State Prosecutor's Office, headed by the prosecutor Beautiful Pelenica, They responded to "Vijesti" that they had forwarded the case to their colleagues from the Basic Prosecutor's Office, because during the proceedings it was determined that Stamatović had a debt that was suspected to be a loan with interest.
According to the newspaper, this was done in April 2023, since when the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica has not determined whether and which of the ten loan sharks and their debt collectors will be held accountable.
Miloš's father emphasizes that there were shortcomings in the investigation - Cvetko Stamatovic, who, with his daughters, is trying to uncover the truth about the death of his only son and brother, and they are fighting to bring to justice those they believe contributed to Miloš's death, and then the death of his mother, whose heart broke shortly after she buried her son...
He told the "Vijesti" journalist that on December 17, 2022, at around 20 p.m., he received a call - he was told that his son had disappeared...
"Then we, as a family, were faced with the shock that hit us. First, I as a father, our family, and then everyone who loved him, were unable to comprehend this information, and especially not in that disbelief to deal with the details of the investigation. The most important thing for me was to find my child, and I never imagined that any of the authorities could miss even the smallest detail that was important to the investigation. Later, we realized that they did," he says.
Stamatović adds that the car his son was driving was not immediately examined, that they gave the family personal belongings instead of handing them over to investigators... Everything they should have done, he says, they did afterwards.
"After the car was found, and then some of the money in the vehicle, in front of several eyewitnesses, mostly relatives, friends and comrades who participated in the search for Miloš, the officials, without any expert opinion, said that the money found in the mail bag should be taken, and that someone from the family should then take over the vehicle and his personal belongings. The phones found in the vehicle were given to one of the relatives who was at the scene... When we realized this, we asked them to go to the police and hand over the phones, which was done," he said.
The father of the 25-year-old emphasizes that, apart from the phone, which they themselves returned to the police, the car was only later subjected to an expert examination.
"The forensic examination and the inspector's report were only done when the car was in front of our house... The course of it all is still unclear to me today. I wonder if this is the way to handle the investigation of the death of a young man, or the way to conduct an on-site investigation of a car used by a Post Office employee who was carrying not his own money, but Post Office money that day," he said...
Stamatović also explains how they learned that Miloš was a victim of loan sharks and blackmailers, mostly people from Danilovgrad - a small town where everyone knows each other...
Miloš's father and sisters have been reading the messages that these people sent him throughout 2022, including immediately before the fateful December 17th, for months, piecing together piece by piece what actually happened before the tragedy...
That's how they found out that he had debt, that he had borrowed money from several people who hung around him, mostly those over 20 years old, that he had paid them interest, that they had pressured him, persecuted him, offered him to "do deliveries for them", suggested that he get the money "with a sock on his head"...
The calls and messages were constant, they threatened to call his father and ask him for money...
They always called around the first of the month, when he received his monthly salary from the Post Office.
"The Higher State Prosecutor's Office states in its act of April 4, 2023 that, after the investigation procedure was conducted, it was determined that there was no reasonable suspicion that any person had committed any act against life and limb for which prosecution is being undertaken ex officio. After that decision was made, we, as a family, were provided with data from the phone. At that time, we were also faced with the loss of both a wife and a mother, whose heart could not withstand the weight that I am bearing. From the material given to us, we learn what was happening - that my son was the target of usurers, blackmailers, those who were ready to control his every move, every step, every salary receipt and to threaten him even with what they knew he was weak against, which was the family from which he had only love, was loved, adored and he reciprocated by being a very good son and brother, hardworking, responsible, someone who had worked dedicatedly since the age of 18, who knew what it meant to earn a living and how to appreciate it," says Stamatović.
He emphasizes that, however, the material he received did not provide him with his son's movements throughout December 17, 2022, which further raises suspicions that the investigation was conducted sloppily...
He adds that the VDP did not explain to him at the time that their conclusion only applies to the scope of criminal offenses for which they are responsible for prosecuting.
"After all the information, I believed that an investigation into whether the criminal offense of incitement to suicide under Article 149, paragraph 5 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro was committed in this specific case could not be ruled out. This is especially true since the Higher State Prosecutor's Office directed the investigation into the incident in question towards the criminal offense of usury, under Article 252 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, and forwarded the case for further action to the Basic State Prosecutor's Office, in order to determine whether the criminal offense of usury was committed in this case," he said...
He explains that by reviewing the files that were provided to him, he later learned that the Higher State Prosecutor's Office, before concluding that it was not a case for them, did not hear all those whose messages he found in the forensic analysis of his son's phone:
"I asked for an explanation as to whether the act of the VDT in Podgorica excluded an investigation into the criminal offense of incitement to suicide, because it belongs to the group of criminal offenses against life and body. In May 2023, I received notification from the ODT Podgorica that a case had been opened with them, a few more details and an explanation that after the investigation, it would be assessed whether the crime in question or some other criminal offense for which prosecution is being undertaken ex officio was committed. They informed me that, if they determine that a criminal offense for which the VDT Podgorica is competent was committed, they would submit the case files to that prosecutor's office. We have the right to believe that the criminal offense of usury exists, but in conjunction with the criminal offense of incitement to suicide," Stamatović said.
In a conversation with a journalist, he shows documents, isolated communications with the Danilovgrad, Cetinje and Podgorica moneylenders and their extended arms...
The names of all of them, the phone numbers from which they sent messages to Miloš, as well as the messages themselves, were submitted to the editorial office of "Vijesti".
Since not everyone has been questioned yet, the newspaper will not publish the names of seven Danilovgrad residents, two brothers from Cetinje and one from Podgorica due to the investigation...
Stamatović also decided not to mention them, and, like his family members, expects the authorities to announce them once they determine who among them is responsible for his son's death.
"As I stated in the interview itself, I will not mention the names of people known to the police and the prosecution, but I can tell you and give you an insight into the messages sent to my son. As you can see, these are not at all friendly messages, as some have characterized themselves in their false statements," he says while showing a transcript of the messages in which they pressure his son to pay the debt...
"As a family, we fully cooperated with the Basic State Prosecutor's Office, identifying and marking the content of the messages. In my assumptions, I marked the faces and known information for those whose messages were content-wise indicated towards establishing that they were the ones who were extorting my son by using physical and psychological coercion, which led to his death. These are the messages of the person for whom I want to remain anonymous until the ODT completes the investigation, although, for me as a parent, this is taking too long," says Miloš's father.
He explains that, in the case that is supposed to reveal the truth about his son's death, three prosecutors have changed so far...
"As an injured family member, I can even understand that, but I believe that the great passage of time greatly slows down the process of reaching the truth and achieving justice. I know that the truth will not bring my son back, but as a parent, I find it difficult to bear the fact that everything that happens benefits the perpetrators of the crime. Therefore, the only hope I have left, and also the only desire, is that the investigation be successfully, legally and fairly concluded and that the persons who I believe contributed to the death of my son, and shortly after that the death of my wife, be brought to justice," concludes Stamatović.
He also expressed his objections to the Montenegrin Post Office, pointing out that even now, more than three years after his son's death, he has not received any explanation from that institution.
"The post office did not send us any notification, nor did it inform us whether anyone had taken responsibility for everything that happened that day and the previous days," he said.
In an interview with a journalist, he explained that, according to his information, Miloš withdrew money twice that day to distribute to citizens, without any confirmation of discharge.
He points out that he spent his working life at the Post of Montenegro, that he communicated with Miloš's bosses to explain to them that he should be transferred to another job, because he was not able to find his way in the field, and shows documentation that this was done with a new decision, which was canceled under the same number a day later...
He also states that it was his son's fifth, unknown district.
"For my son, this was already the fifth, unknown area they had put him in, and I, as an employee who had worked at the Post Office for 25 years without a single mistake, after all those 25 years, was deceived every day that Miloš would be transferred to another job, which he was promised on his first day of work and for which he was given a solution, and then they annulled it and gave him a new one, under the same date as the previous one, with the excuse that they had no one to fill that position, to meet their needs and that, as soon as they found someone to be a postman, they would transfer him. I have evidence for all of this, and in the end, despite the fact that they knew and saw that he was not good at that job, they still gave Miloš, on that day, a much larger amount of money than the law allowed and allowed. Despite all that, the State Prosecutor's Office tells me that the Post Office is not demanding money. I would just like to ask what kind of message it is sending? Not to mention insurance, as if he was nobody's employee. They did not deign to send me, as a parent, a "Because of all that, and after everything, I have every right to suspect that someone wanted to cover up many things and their own shortcomings," Stamatović said.
Pointing to the shortcomings in the investigation, he adds that no one explained to him and his family how much money Miloš distributed that day, how much was found on him, or whether anything was missing...
"That's why it's important to know his entire movement that day, to know if he met with any of these people, if he possibly gave them some money, paid them in some way, as he did in the case of one of them, previously, to whom he paid money through the Post Office... These are links that are very important in the entire investigation, which we, it seems, need to lead ourselves, pointing out to the Prosecutor's Office everything that is suspicious in the messages. Also, someone must find a way to see what was written in the numerous messages that were deleted and to determine whether they were deleted when he was reported missing, or immediately after being sent... Someone must also determine what the offer to do delivery meant, but also what they all wanted from Miloš, how they sent him to Cetinje to some people he doesn't know, what their connection was with the people of Cetinje. Why did they suggest that he get the money with a sock on his head, 'advised' him to calm him down, threatened him, stalked him. Someone, ultimately, must tell us "Who will be responsible for his death?" Stamatović said...
He emphasized that his family, with this statement to "Vijesti", is concluding any media advertising.
The Criminal Code provides for prison sentences for those who commit the crime of incitement to suicide.
"Whoever induces another to commit suicide or assists him in committing suicide, and this is committed or attempted, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of one to five years. Whoever assists another in committing suicide under the conditions set out in Article 147 of this Code, and this is committed or attempted, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of three months to three years. Whoever commits the act referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article against a minor or against a person who is in a state of significantly reduced mental capacity shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of two to ten years. If the act referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is committed against a child or against an incapacitated person, the perpetrator shall be punished under Article 144 of this Code. Whoever cruelly or inhumanly treats a person who is in a relationship of subordination or dependence towards him, and as a result of such treatment, he commits or attempts suicide that can be attributed to the negligence of the perpetrator, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of six months to five years," is prescribed in Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
Whoever lends money or other consumable items and thereby contracts a disproportionate material benefit shall be punished by imprisonment for up to three years and a fine, reads the description of the criminal offense of "usury" in the Criminal Code (CC) of Montenegro.
If the usurer "takes advantage of the poor financial situation, difficult circumstances, necessity, frivolity or insufficient ability to reason of the injured party", he will be punished with imprisonment from three months to three years and a fine.
The Criminal Code stipulates that a loan shark can be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years and a fine if serious consequences have occurred for the injured party or the perpetrator has obtained material gain in an amount exceeding three thousand euros.
Research by "Vijesti" shows that debt bondage does not only happen to the "irresponsible". Anyone can fall into it - both the calm and the hardworking, both the hardworking and the responsible, both the strong and the weak. The loan sharks are just waiting for a moment of weakness.
This is confirmed by the survey results - some citizens took on debt out of necessity, when institutional assistance was unavailable or too slow, while a significant number went into debt to maintain a lifestyle beyond their realistic means or to cover gambling losses, decisions that today, in a conversation with a journalist, they recognize as serious personal mistakes.
Only five reports to the police
Only five people have reported loan sharks to the police since that security institution, in the midst of a feuilleton about the scale of loan sharking in Montenegro, formed two special teams tasked with systematically and thoroughly investigating all reported cases of loan sharking, as well as investigating how their colleagues had previously handled these cases.
"Since the formation of the teams for the fight against usury in the Police Directorate, a total of five emails have been received via a publicly available e-mail address, in which citizens provided information about persons allegedly engaged in usury or shared their own experiences regarding this criminal offense. Also, three citizens, after the interview, personally approached the official premises of the Police Directorate to provide the necessary information," the UP responded to "Vijesti".
When asked whether they were just waiting for reports or were doing something themselves, they stated that they were taking all measures and actions aimed at identifying and prosecuting those who lend money at interest.
"In addition to the aforementioned reports from citizens, which are not frequent, officers of the Police Directorate at all levels - local, regional and central, predominantly take operational and proactive measures and actions on their own initiative, aimed at identifying and prosecuting the criminal offense of usury. Suppressing usury is one of the absolute priorities in the work of the Police Directorate. We remain firmly committed to protecting the safety of all citizens and their property, strengthening public trust and decisively opposing this and all forms of crime," the Police Directorate states.
Prosecutor's Office brief on investigation
The Podgorica ODT did not specify which of the ten people who sent messages to Miloš Stamatović and terrorized him before his death they had questioned and who was unavailable to them, stating that they could not disclose details due to the investigation.
"We would like to inform you that the aforementioned case is currently under investigation. During the investigation, information was obtained from all persons currently available. An expert examination has been ordered for digital evidence, computer, mobile and video forensics. Documentation has also been obtained that will be the subject of further analysis in order to make a decision. In order to protect the interests of the proceedings, it is not possible to disclose more details at this time," said the Prosecutor's Office, headed by Prosecutor Duško Milanović.
Responding to the newspaper's questions, their colleagues from the Podgorica Higher State Prosecutor's Office did not specify whether it was determined how much money Miloš Stamatović had borrowed from the Post Office that day, how much he distributed to citizens, and whether it was checked whether part of the money was possibly lost at gambling and, if so, what amount was in question...
The questions that remained without clear answers were whether data was obtained on any debts, financial obligations or pressures he was exposed to immediately before his death and whether a financial reconstruction of the events of that day was carried out (money movements, transactions, witnesses to the payment), as well as whether there is a possibility of reviewing the decision not to initiate proceedings if new facts or evidence emerge.
"The Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica has opened a case regarding the death of MS, whose lifeless body was found on December 20, 2022. During the investigation, several evidentiary actions were taken, all necessary expert examinations were performed and necessary information was collected from a large number of persons. After analyzing all the collected evidence, the prosecutor's office found that there was no reasonable suspicion that any person had committed any criminal offense for which prosecution is being undertaken ex officio, within the jurisdiction of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica. Also, during the procedure, it was determined that MS had a debt that was suspected to be an interest-bearing loan, after which copies of the case files were submitted to the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, in order to determine whether the criminal offense of usury was committed in this specific case," said the High State Prosecutor's Office, headed by Lepa Medenica.
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