When the Special State Prosecutor's Office filed an appeal on September 18 against the decision of the High Court, which dismissed the indictment against the group during the review Aleksandar Mijajović, it was expected that the case would quickly reach the Court of Appeal.
However, two weeks later this has not happened and the case files are still in the High Court in Podgorica.
Acting President of the Court of Appeal Danijela Vukčević She replied to "Vijesti" that they had not yet received the item.
"The case to which your question refers has not yet been submitted to this court for decision," Vukčević replied.
The Higher Court in Podgorica did not respond to questions about why the appeal with the case files has not yet been submitted to the appellate court for the decision.
A non-trial panel consisting of judges Zoran Radovic, Boris Savic and Vesna Kovacevic, after checking the amended indictment, On September 8, they issued a decision to dismiss the case because during the hearing they decided that there was no basis for the SDT's charges against the defendants Aleksandar Mijajlović, a former senior ANB operative Dear Spičanović, UP officer Vladan Lazović and Milovan Pavićević, plaintiffs Andrijane Nastic and DPS officials Predrag Bošković.
The court concluded, among other things, that there was insufficient evidence in the files that Mijajlović organized a criminal organization by personally recruiting and including Spičanović, Lazović, Pavićević, Nastic and Bošković in the criminal organization in order to carry out the criminal plan, using the communication platforms Viber and WhatsApp.
There is not enough evidence, according to the court, that Mijajlović assigned them roles and tasks, nor that they accepted them.
The Council specifically addressed the allegations of abuse of official position, namely the SDT's position that Mijajlović incited Spičanović to commit the crime, who was accused of providing him with information held by the Police Administration and the ANB...
The Court, however, found that the mere receipt of such data cannot be considered a material or non-material benefit.
"The mere possession of certain data, without its further evaluation, cannot constitute a benefit within the meaning of Article 416 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro," the panel concluded.
Although the decision was made on September 8, the decision was "resting" in the Higher Court, which only announced on September 16 that they had made a decision to dismiss the SDT indictment, which has only happened in one case before the Higher Court in Podgorica during the review of such an act.
After the decision was announced, prosecutor and SDT spokesperson Vukas Radonjić reacted and said that the prosecution believes it is illegal.
Radonjić also announced that the decision of the Higher Court in Podgorica is "at the same time dangerous for Montenegro."
The court immediately delivered the decision Kvso No. 7/26 to the parties in the proceedings.
Mijajlović's defense attorney, lawyer Stefan Jovanovic He told "Vijesti" that they received a decision from the court dismissing the SDT indictment.
He clarified that the court is not required to provide the defense attorneys with the SDT's appeal for a statement.
Two days after the High Court announced the decision, the Special State Prosecutor's Office reacted, filing an appeal against the decision due to a significant violation of the provisions of criminal procedure and an incorrectly determined factual situation.
The SDT requested that the Court of Appeals reverse the decision of the Higher Court in Podgorica and confirm the indictment against Aleksandar Mijajlović's group.
The High Court also returned the indictment against Mijajlović and others to the SDT in early July, requesting that the prosecution eliminate the deficiencies within three days.
The court then pointed out that the indictment did not sufficiently describe how the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization was committed, but also pointed to shortcomings regarding the concept of "benefit" as an element of the criminal offense of abuse of official position.
In early April, the SDT filed an indictment against Aleksandar Mijajlović, who is accused of organizing a criminal organization that operated in Montenegro from 2019 to February 2024, and whose goal, they claim, was to commit the crimes of abuse of official position and disclosure of secret information in order to gain illegal power.
Appeals against Medenice verdict not submitted until September 23rd
Acting Court of Appeals judge Danijela Vukčević confirmed to Vijesti that the appeals against the first-instance verdict against Miloš and Vesna Medenica and others in the case were only submitted to that court on September 23rd.
"I inform you that the case files were submitted to this court on September 23, 2026. When the decision is made, the public will be informed in a timely manner," Vukčević replied.
The Court of Appeals is expected to soon schedule a hearing to discuss the appeals of the defense, as well as the SDT, which requested harsher sentences for the defendants.
The first-instance verdict against the criminal organization of fugitive Miloš Medenica and his mother, the former president of the Supreme Court, was announced on January 28 of this year.
Miloš Medenica was sentenced to 10 years and two months, while Vesna Medenica received a decade in prison in the first instance, and the legal battle to have her sent to detention after the decision was pronounced lasted for more than a month.
The court panel acquitted the former head of the judiciary of charges that she was part of her son Miloš's criminal organization, which was the key reason why the SDT appealed the decision in May.
Miloš Medenica escaped on the eve of the verdict, when the night before the decision he left the apartment where he had been under house arrest since October 17, 2025, when he left the Remand Prison because the three-year detention period from the date of indictment had expired.
Detention still ongoing for cocaine smuggling
A few days after the Higher Court's decision dismissing the indictment against Aleksandar Mijajlović's group was published, his detention was lifted on that basis, but on the same day a decision was made to extend it for another one, which concerns cocaine trafficking.
On September 22, the High Court announced that Mijajlović had been ordered to be detained under points 1 and 3 of Article 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code for creating a criminal organization and unauthorized production, possession and distribution of drugs.
During the review of the indictment, the businessman stated that he "did not invest a dime nor did he gain anything," and that it made no sense for him to take the risk of getting involved in drug trafficking since he owns legal companies that generate millions in turnover.
In the cocaine smuggling case, in addition to Mijajlović, the SDT indictment includes nine other people: brothers Vuk and Vlado Banićević, Vladimir Bajčeta, Milan Popović, Vukašin Vojinović, Radoje Zvicer, Filip Zindović-Kljajević, Nebojša Bugarin and Božidar Jabučanin.
The SDT charges them with smuggling a total of 4.139,605 kilograms of cocaine from South America to Europe, between August 2020 and March 2021.
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