"This will be the third time I have sued the state. I don't know who tried the Limenka case, but just as it is mentioned every day today, this case will also be mentioned in a few years when I sue the state, so be it with God and Saint Basil of Ostrog," said defendant Aco Đukanović at the indictment review at the Basic Court in Nikšić, where he is charged with the criminal offense of illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosives.
The defendant's sister and defense attorney, Ana Đukanović, assessed that the proceedings against her brother were the result of, as she stated, "the joining of the prosecution and the police to turn injustice into law," and that the entire case would not have happened if, as she claims, his last name was not Đukanović.
In her extensive presentation, she particularly focused on the issue of the security of her brother, Milo Đukanović, disputing the allegations from the reports of state authorities.
She said that from 1991, when he first assumed the office of Prime Minister, until 2023, Milo Đukanović was a protected figure without interruption, with security that, as she stated, was organized on multiple levels - visible and covert.
VIDEO Boris Pejović
According to her, this security included columns of three to four vehicles, as well as members who acted discreetly but were constantly present, armed with long barrels, body armor, and the complete accompanying equipment that goes with protecting the highest state officials.
She stated that security assessments indicated a high level of threat, emphasizing that her brother had as many as seven elements that indicated a potential threat to his life, which is why such a level of security was continuous and increased.
"I found bullets and boxes of ammunition in the family home many times and put them away because the children were small," she said, adding that security guards were not only in the yard, but also in the house itself.
She also pointed out that security personnel were in the immediate vicinity of the house, including the buildings and area around the nearby high school, where, she said, she saw armed men with long guns.
"I can't even tell you how many of them there were in the yard and around the house," she said.
She added that such circumstances were everyday and that, as she claims, it was clear to everyone that this was a protected person with a high level of security measures.
"So much for Milo Djukanovic not having protection," she said.
On this basis, she questioned the accuracy of the reports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro and the National Security Agency, describing them as "completely devalued" and stating that they contain "orthodox untruths", especially in the part relating to the presence of weapons and ammunition in the family home.
Continuing her presentation, Ana Đukanović said that the indictment does not contain the elements prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Code, stating that it does not contain an explanation of the state of affairs, evidence used to establish the facts, or the prosecutor's attitude towards the defendant's defense.
"None of that is in the indictment," she said, adding that the prosecutor, as a party to the proceedings, must follow the same rules as the defense and the defendant.
She specifically addressed the issue of intent, emphasizing that the indictment, as she said, merely copied legal wording without any specific explanation.
"Intent is a key element of criminal responsibility, and the prosecutor did not substantially address it," she stated.
She also pointed to the ballistics findings, according to which the ammunition dates back to the 1980s, from the time of their late father, emphasizing that the prosecution did not adequately analyze this finding or submit it to the defense in a timely manner.
In his address to the court, Đukanović stated that Nikšić Security Center officer Velibor Koprivica "held a case for 17 years" relating to an earlier report of theft from his house, and that only now, as he claims, has that case been used in these proceedings.
He also said that the second burglary of his house took place six and a half years ago, but that even then, as he claims, there were no specific actions.
"The prosecutor's office in Nikšić files an indictment in 28 days, and nothing has been done in 17 years," he said.
He pointed out that he was threatened with a six-year prison sentence, "that his children would suffer," and that he considered it illegal to use certain information that, as he claims, was not provided to the court or the defense, but was used against him.
The defendant's defense attorney, Slobodan Stašević, proposed that the case files include a request for a search warrant for the apartment and ancillary facilities in Nikšić, an order to search the apartment in Podgorica, as well as a criminal report submitted to the Special State Prosecutor's Office.
He also proposed to inspect the evidence that the prosecution did not submit, but is in the files, namely the DNA expert report and the fingerprint expert report, as well as to hear witnesses on the circumstances of the origin of the ammunition in the house: Zoran Radević, Radosav Lješković, Željko Vukčević, Veselin Pešić, Milan Kovačević and Mihajlo Vuksanović.
He also proposed that complete documentation be obtained, and that the police in Nikšić be ordered, in accordance with the act of 20 March, to submit to the court and the prosecution all the material in their possession in connection with the case from 31 August 2009, as well as to return to the owner four stolen pistols, three licenses and one certificate issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs confirming that he had received a fourth revolver as a gift.
The court then issued a decision rejecting the defense's motion to lift the ban on the accused from leaving the apartment, finding that there were still reasons for its duration, noting that the imposed measures would be reviewed every two months.
Presiding judge Mirko Kojović said that the decision on the review of the indictment will be delivered within the legal deadline.
After the trial, when asked by the journalist if she would be making statements to the media today, Aco Đukanović first asked where she was from, and when she answered "Vijesti" he said, "You haven't asked me anything for 40 years, you don't even have the moral right to do so, and you've been writing about me every day."
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