In a repeated court proceeding, the defendant Srđan Z. Popović from Banja Luka was sentenced to 15 years and 10 months in prison for intentionally killing Goran Đuričković in Budva on the promenade in front of the restaurant "The Old Fishermans Pub".
The president of the criminal council, Judge Katarina Padalica, pronounced the first-instance verdict against this defendant today at the Higher Court in Podgorica.
She said the earlier ruling remains in effect.
A final decision of the extra-trial chamber of the Higher Court in Podgorica allowed the reopening of the criminal proceedings against the accused Popović, after he was extradited to the judicial authorities of Montenegro.
Popović was previously sentenced in absentia to 15 years and 10 months in prison for the murder of Goran Đuričković in Budva and illegal possession of weapons.
The first-instance verdict states that Popović is guilty of premeditatedly killing Goran Đuričković on October 27, 2015, around 20:XNUMX p.m. in Slovenska Obala Street in Budva, on the promenade in front of the "The Old Fishermans Pub" restaurant.
The first-instance verdict states that the defendant fired three shots at the injured party from an old loophole located on the walls of the Old Town, above a location called "Zvono", from a German-made "Heckler & Koh" automatic rifle with a scratched factory number.
The verdict further states that at that moment, Đuričković was on the promenade in front of the restaurant "The Old Fishermans Pub". One of the shots fired hit him in the right side of the chest, causing him serious and life-threatening injuries, from which he died at the scene.
After that, the defendant Popović fled with a jet ski that had been prepared in advance in the direction of Kotor.
In the village of Platamuni, between the beaches of Trsteno and Ploče, he left a scooter in a bay. In order to destroy biological traces, he set the scooter on fire with gasoline and drove away in an unknown direction.
He threw the automatic rifle into the sea, which was found on September 12, 2016, in the area between Cape Platamuni and Mogren II beach.
Judge: Defendant indicated that he was in the loophole from where Goran Đuričković was killed
Judge Katarina Padalica stated in the explanation of the verdict that it was proven that the defendant Srđan Popović committed the criminal offense of murder under Article 143 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro in conjunction with the criminal offense of illegal possession of weapons and explosives.
"Namely, the proceedings have undoubtedly established that on 27 October 2015, on Slovenska Obala Street in Budva, on the promenade in front of a catering facility, Goran Đuričković was killed. Three projectiles were fired at him while he was on the aforementioned promenade in front of the aforementioned catering facility. He was shot at with an automatic firearm from the area of the old loophole located on the walls of the old town, above the location called 'Zvono', which was later found in the sea area between Cape Platamuni and Mogren II beach, closer to Cape Platamuni, in the sea. The expert examination established that the casings were found on the spot - in the old loophole fired from this automatic rifle, while the presence of biological material of the accused was determined on the casings, as well as on the positions inside the aforementioned facility. Also, from the submitted material of encrypted communication for the user of the designation 'RAUCMT', it was determined that it was the accused Popović Srđan, given that in the photographs this user sent can clearly see his face, and that those photos were created in the way that he himself took a 'selfie', it is clearly established that the accused is aware of the event that is the subject of this indictment, and that he is interested in the proceedings that are being conducted against him (at that time, the investigation)".
"It indicates how his biological material could have remained inside the rifle, especially from the text sent with the following content: 'but you know what the problem is here, big brother', 'because I didn't load the rifle or touch the bullets', 'where did my DNA come from then', 'on the cartridge if it was', 'Brkan loaded the rifle and cleaned the bullets with WD', 'and loaded two gloves', 'oh, maybe it stayed on the wall somehow', 'it's interesting brother what they say on the seat is there, I didn't sit there and I'm not crazy', 'I didn't touch the bullets or load the rifle', 'oh then my DNA is there', 'but I was thinking where do they keep that evidence down there', 'let's burn that where the evidence is', 'I would send comrades from down there', 'from BiH', 'find it in the newspapers', 'evidence burned in Banja Luka at the prosecutor's office', 'look what the guy down there did', 'if only we knew where it is', "nothing is impossible", "we need someone from the inside". So, in the aforementioned communication, the accused indicates that he was at the spot of the rifle hole at the critical moment, but that he was not sitting, and indicates that he did not load the rifle, but another person, but does not indicate in any of the text that he was not the person who fired the firearm at the critical moment, but rather suggests how to challenge the found traces and evidence, that is, to destroy them", said judge Katarina Padalica in the explanation of the verdict.
Radović: Sky could not be used as evidence in this trial
The defense attorney for the defendant Srđan Popović, attorney Marko Radović, stated that the defense will appeal this verdict.
"Today, the court orally announced the verdict, leaving in force the previous verdict that was passed in the absence of the accused Popović, which sentenced him to a single sentence of 15 years and ten months. We are surprised by this verdict, considering the results of the evidentiary procedure in this repeated trial, considering some of the evidence that has now been presented and some facts that have now become known, which were not previously known in the proceedings in which he was sentenced to the sentence that was left in force today. We rightly expected that there might be a different decision," said Radović.
He announced that he would appeal and that he hoped that this decision would not remain in legal force.
"The reasoning for today's decision was quite brief, the court will provide more detailed reasons in the written judgment. But what I could hear is that the court gave dominant importance to the Sky communications that were submitted at the very end of these proceedings, which we believe could not be used as evidence in these proceedings. These communications were not presented in the manner in which Sky material is presented before this court as evidence, in accordance with the practice of this court as a digital document. It was already written material, it was one-sided communications. Moreover, this material was submitted for the purposes of another proceeding, and in that proceeding, along with the response to the letter of request from the French judicial authorities, there was permission to use this data exclusively for the case for which this material was submitted," said Radović.
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