Mijajlović: I wrote a will and all the details about who asked me for money and apartments

Aleksandar Mijajlović said that due to his health condition, he wrote a will in which he stated who would be to blame if his children were "left orphans".

He also said that he wrote down in detail what happened, "what everyone asked me for, what kind of money and apartments."

The trial against Mijajlović, Vesko Petranović and the cigarette smuggling group began today before the Podgorica Higher Court in Podgorica.

At the beginning of the trial, Mijajlović said that due to his health condition, he wrote a will in which he wrote down in detail who had asked him for money.

"Due to my health condition, I wrote a will and stated who would be at fault if my children were left orphans. I wrote down in detail what happened, what everyone asked of me, what money and apartments," Mijajlović said in his defense.

He then denied the allegations of cigarette smuggling in the indictment.

"The same prosecutor is conducting all the proceedings against me, the same SPO chief and their manager. Will these people be held accountable later? I can look everyone in the eye," Mijajlović pointed out.

He stated that in addition to this case where he is charged with cigarette smuggling, three other investigations are ongoing against him.

According to the indictment, Mijajlović, together with an unknown person, organized a criminal organization in Montenegro from 2019 to 2021, whose members included the other defendants and other currently unknown persons.

The organization was formed to smuggle untaxed cigarettes from the Port of Bar Free Zone, their sale, concealment and distribution in Montenegro and other countries, for the purpose of acquiring illegal profits and power, as well as laundering money acquired through criminal activity.

Petranović's group, as previously announced by the SDT, is accused of continuously selling, distributing and concealing untaxed cigarettes from mid-2019 to the end of October 2020, in the amount of at least 9.094 packages, purchased abroad.

"By not paying customs duties, excise duties and taxes, they obtained material gain and caused damage to the Montenegrin budget of at least almost 7,2 million euros," the prosecutor's office said.

Mijajlović: SDT or SPO installed the Telegram app on me while I was in custody

Mijajlović emphasized that while he was in custody, someone installed the Telegram application on his phone.

"I was arrested on February 18, 2024, and just twenty days after that, while I was still in custody, someone in the SDT or SPO unlocked my phone and installed the Telegram application. I never used that application at the time. My phone was turned on on March 7 or 8 and Telegram was installed at that time, which was notified to everyone who had my number in the phone book. People called my lawyer to ask if I had been released from custody," said Mijajlović.

He added that the phone was officially searched, in his presence, only in July 2024.

Presenting his defense, Mijajlović said, among other things, that Europol documents do not state that he is a user of the pins from the Sky application that the SDT states he used in the part related to cigarette smuggling.

"I have never used the Sky application. I have only had one phone since 1995 and I have never changed my number. Bring me a person who will say that I have used two phones. Never. When asked, EUROPOL replied that they have never sent information to our authorities that I am a user of those PINs," Mijajlović pointed out.

He added that although the indictment is written on 407 pages, only seven pages link him to cigarette smuggling.

He noted that the Special State Prosecutor's Office included the same messages in the indictment for cigarette smuggling and in the order to conduct an investigation launched against him for drug smuggling. Of which he allegedly received two kilograms worth a little over 10.000 euros.

"Out of the ton of cocaine, allegedly, two kilograms were mine. I was charged with 10.600 euros of the cocaine that I allegedly smuggled," said Mijajlović.

Regarding income, he said that he has a company and earns millions annually.

"I own several companies, some of which have annual revenues in the millions. So it is illogical and unclear to me why I would engage in illegal business. Do you think I am so stupid that I would give myself the nickname Aco on the Sky application," explained Mijajlović, adding that he is the director of the largest construction company in the Middle East, "Alec Engineering".

"This is the company that built the largest projects, 'Dubai Mall', 'Dubai Airport'," said Mijajlović.

He stated that he became the director of that company in 2012 and had a salary of 11.000 euros.

"Back then, salaries in Montenegro were 200, 300 euros. Do you think I would have gotten into the cigarette business despite all that?" asked Mijajlović.

He stated that he had not had coffee or lunch with any of the defendants, but that he only knew the owners of "Tehnomaks" Vesko Petranović and Dejan Jokić.

"Anyone who has bought two televisions knows Petranović, and I met Jokić in a furniture showroom," he said.

Defendant Dejan Jokić pleaded not guilty and said he never had an encrypted phone.

The trial continues on March 26.

Piperović: Where did the cigarettes come from that have an owner, that the state knows about, and are illegally owned by Mijajlović?

Lawyer Zoran Piperović, defense attorney for the accused Aleksandar Mijajlović, said that Mijajlović is not the owner of the cigarettes.

"If the documents dealing with cigarettes from the indictment's dispositive were attached to the files or if the panel that confirmed the indictment had dealt with them in the decision confirming the indictment, it would now be easier for the trial panel to ask questions of the accused Mijajlović," he pointed out.

He added that the document mentions two companies that had their own freight forwarder in Bar and with whom they concluded a contract.

"The Montenegrin government has told the owners of these companies to return the cigarettes to their countries of origin. And the owner of these companies is not Aco Mijajlović. How come these cigarettes, which have an owner and a forwarder, known to the state, are now found to be illegal and owned by Mijajlović," emphasized lawyer Piperović.