Former Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnić claimed today before the High Court in Podgorica that in 2018, the lawyer for American citizen Joseph Assad, Toby Cadman, showed him a paper with the names of members of the then Democratic Front (DF) and people close to them, among whom, as he stated, was the name of a minister from the current government.
Continuing his defense in the proceedings against him and suspended special prosecutor Saša Čađenović for allegedly attempting to influence Assad's testimony in the "Coup d'état" case, Katnić said that he met with Kedmen at Villa Gorica at his invitation and that the conversation lasted only a few minutes.
"On that paper there were no names of Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević. There was the name and surname of a minister from the current government," said Katnić.
He added that the then Minister of Justice Zoran Pažin also attended the meeting, and that the paper contained a list of DF members and people close to them, along with information about the services they claimed they requested from Asad's company.
He said that he still has the document, but that he cannot reveal where it is or submit it to the court.
"I can't give it to you because it would incriminate some ministers in the current government. They'll arrest my wife and children, they'll say it's another conspiracy theory," Katnić said.
According to the indictment of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), Katnić and Čađenović are accused of having reached an agreement with Assad's legal representative for the American citizen to come to Montenegro and testify in a manner that suits the prosecution in the "Coup d'état" case, while in return, the arrest warrants against him would be withdrawn and the criminal proceedings would be suspended.
Katnić rejected these allegations and said that Čađenović never sent pre-prepared answers to Kedmen.
"Sasa Cadjenovic only sent questions. Cadman sent the answers to the phone, not to the prosecution's official email," he said.
He also said that he did not communicate with anyone from the police to allow Asad to enter Montenegro without arrest.
"The plan was that, upon arrival in Montenegro, he would be taken to the investigating judge who would decide on detention. I won't say that there was no intention for him to be in detention for a while, to see what the situation was like," Katnić said.
Speaking about the communication between Čađenović and Kedmen, he stated that the messages indicated that they were arranging the date of Assad's arrival, and not exerting pressure on him.
"I spoke to Assad. He is flexible about the date," he read one of the messages he claims Cadman sent to Čađenović, to which the response was: "Excellent."
Katnić also said that Čađenović sent American prosecutors questions that Assad was supposed to answer during his interrogation in the United States (US), but not the answers.
"I would never allow any prosecutor to send answers. That's a lie from Cadman," he said.
Responding to questions from Judge Sonja Keković about the photographs that, according to earlier allegations, were provided to Asad for the purpose of identifying the persons involved in the investigation, Katnić said that he now assumes that among them were photographs of Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević, but that he cannot say this with certainty because they are not in the case files.
He explained that photographs were also sent in other cases for the purpose of identifying individuals, and added that he had never been prosecuted for such a practice before.
"I'm here because Andrija Mandić wants me to be here," said Katnić.
Today, also before the Higher Court in Podgorica, Čađenović denied the allegations in the indictment that he tried to induce American citizen Joseph Assad to give false testimony in the case known as "Coup d'état", claiming that the sole purpose of lifting the international arrest warrant was for Assad to come to Montenegro and testify.
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