The acquittal of the defendants in the "Envelope" case has been overturned.

The Court of Appeals overturned the verdict in the case known to the public as "The Envelope".

That court accepted the appeal of the Special State Prosecutor's Office, and in response to that appeal, it ex officio overturned the verdict of the Special Department of the Higher Court in Podgorica and returned the case to the first-instance court for a retrial.

The decision was made after a secret deliberation and vote on February 24th.

"By the first-instance verdict, the accused Duško Knežević, Branislav Todorović, Živko Šljivančanin, Tamara Krdžić, Goran Grujović, Tomica Knežević and Slavoljub Stijepović were acquitted of the charges that they committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization, the accused Tomica Knežević, Branislav Todorović, Živko Šljivančanih, Goran Grujović and Tamara Krdžić, the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization, and that they committed the criminal offense of money laundering as co-perpetrators," the Court of Appeals reminded in a statement.

The SDT filed an appeal against the aforementioned verdict.

Based on the reasons for the appeal and ex officio, the Court of Appeal, as a second instance court, assessed that the appeal of the SDT was well-founded, indicating that the first instance court committed a significant violation of the provisions of criminal procedure, because there are no reasons on decisive facts, while the reasons given are completely unclear and significantly contradictory.

"According to the Court of Appeal, it is the obligation of the first instance court to truthfully and completely establish the facts that are important for making a lawful and fair decision in the retrial, as well as to examine and establish with equal care the facts that incriminate the accused and those that are in his favor, as well as to specifically and completely state which facts and for what reasons it considers proven or unproven, while giving a particular assessment of the credibility of contradictory evidence, as well as what reasons it was guided by when drawing individual factual and legal conclusions," the statement reads.

The decision of the Court of Appeal Kž-S.br. 30/25 of February 24, 2026 with more detailed reasons will be published on the website of that court.