Deadline extended for investigation against Aco Đukanović

The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Nikšić has been extended the deadline to supplement the investigation against the businessman. Aca Đukanović, brother of the former president and prime minister of the country Milo Đukanović after the indictment against him was returned for amendment at the end of April.

The prosecutor's office told "Vijesti" that a decision in the case will be made after the necessary evidentiary procedures have been carried out.

"At the request of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Nikšić, the deadline for supplementing the investigation against A. Đ. for the criminal offense of illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosives has been extended, and a decision will be made after the necessary evidentiary actions have been taken," the ODT in Nikšić responded.

The Basic Court in Nikšić said last month that the case is still with the prosecutor's office because the indictment has not been supplemented and submitted to the court.

Djukanovic was arrested on February 28th after a search of his family home in the Niksic neighborhood of Rastoci.

"Vijesti" then announced that he was handcuffed after the police found weapons, police equipment and body armor, and the Police Directorate later announced that, on the orders of the competent prosecutor's offices and courts, the facilities and premises he uses in Podgorica and Nikšić were searched.

The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Nikšić announced after the arrest that Đukanović is suspected of having illegally kept weapons and ammunition in his house in Nikšić, for which he has been charged with the criminal offense of illegal possession and carrying of weapons and explosives.

After the hearing, he was ordered to be detained, and the prosecution proposed detention due to the risk of flight. The court accepted this proposal, and Đukanović was taken to the Spuž Remand Prison.

At the end of March, the bail he offered for his defense while at liberty was accepted. According to an earlier court statement, the bail consisted of one million euros in cash and real estate valued at just over four million euros.

The court's decision also imposed supervision measures on him - a ban on leaving the apartment with electronic monitoring, temporary confiscation of his travel document, and an obligation to regularly report to the police.

In May, Đukanović's ban on leaving his apartment was lifted, but the measures of temporarily confiscating his travel document and the obligation to regularly report to the police remained in force.

The indictment review was originally postponed to April 7th because some of the defense attorneys did not receive a summons for the hearing in time, and a new one was scheduled for April 20th.

At the end of April, however, the indictment of the ODT in Nikšić was returned for amendment. By the decision of the judge Mirko Kojović, the prosecution was ordered to conduct additional evidentiary actions in order to complete the investigation.

The court, among other things, requested additional ballistics expertise at the Forensic Center in Danilovgrad, in order to determine whether the ammunition included in the indictment matches the weapon Đukanović is charged with, but also the weapon for which he holds a license.

The prosecution was also ordered to obtain additional information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the registration of individual weapons, as well as to check records related to weapons registered to persons connected to the case, including his father Radovan Đukanović and brother Milo.

The court also requested additional information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Security Agency on the type of ammunition used by their officers at certain times, in order to clarify the origin of some of the ammunition found during the search.

The Nikšić ODT was then given a two-month deadline to complete the investigation, with the possibility of an extension at the prosecutor's request.

During the review of the indictment at the Basic Court in Nikšić, Đukanović claimed that the indictment was illegal and that he expected it to be dismissed.

He said that the only truth in the indictment was that he was an unconvicted person, while he claimed that the other allegations were false and based on illegal evidence.

His defense requested that the indictment be dismissed, while the prosecution maintained that the indictment was well-founded.