The Podgorica Prosecutor's Office charges Danilo Mandic, nephew and informal bodyguard of the head of the Assembly Andrije Mandić, that on the night of April 19, when he allegedly wounded two people in the center of Podgorica, he stole an official parliamentary vehicle.
"Vijesti" was told this yesterday by the prosecutor's office, which at the end of April ex officio opened a case due to potential misuse of the highest legislative house's car.
"On June 30, 6, the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica filed an indictment against the defendant DM for the criminal offense of vehicle seizure, in connection with the use of an official vehicle of the Parliament of Montenegro on the night when two people were injured in Podgorica," the editorial office of the institution headed by the prosecutor told the editorial board. Dusko Milanović.
According to the Criminal Code of Montenegro (Article 248), anyone who unlawfully seizes another person's motor vehicle with the intention of using it for driving shall be punished with a fine or imprisonment for up to two years. The regulation states that anyone who negligently causes damage exceeding one thousand euros to a seized vehicle or enables another person to do so shall be punished with a fine or imprisonment for up to three years.
Danilo Mandić is suspected of wounding in the center of the capital on April 19th. Darko Perović i Aris TurkovićThe Police Department claims that Mandić blocked the path of Perović and Turković with the parliament's official vehicle, a Range Rover jeep, and fired "several shots at them, causing injuries to the legs"...
A judge at the Podgorica High Court ordered Danilo Mandić to be held in custody for thirty days on April 21, which was then extended for two months on May 22. The final decision to extend the detention was made on August 25.
The Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica was investigating the nephew of the first man in the Parliament for attempted aggravated murder, but at the beginning of June it assessed that "the elements" of that criminal offense had not been established, so it forwarded the case to the Basic Prosecutor's Office, stating that criminal offenses may have been committed - causing general danger, serious bodily injury and unauthorized possession and carrying of weapons and explosives.
"In the case related to the use of firearms, after the Basic Court in Podgorica returned the indictment for amendment, the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica is undertaking additional evidentiary actions in accordance with the court order," the prosecutor's office told "Vijesti" yesterday.
On June 24, that institution filed an indictment against Danilo Mandić, with a proposal to extend his detention. On June 12, the Court of Appeals rejected as unfounded the appeal of Mandić's defense attorney. Miroj Jovanović to the decision of the Higher Court in Podgorica from May 16th on the extension of the detention of the defendant. At that time, it was determined that Mandić's detention, according to that decision, will last until July 20th.
Danilo Mandić is suspected of wounding Darko Perović and Aris Turković in the center of the capital on April 19. The police department claims that Mandić blocked the path of Perović and Turković with the parliament's official vehicle, a Range Rover jeep, and fired "several shots at them, which injured the injured in the leg area"...
In mid-August, Jovanović announced that the Constitutional Court had accepted the constitutional appeal he had filed on behalf of Danilo Mandić at the beginning of that month, and that it had thus been established that the decision of the Court of Appeal had violated Danilo Mandić's right to liberty and security.
"The Constitutional Court concluded that, taking into account all the evidence in the case, there are not sufficiently concrete and reliable reasons that would, at the level of basic suspicion, connect my client to the commission of the criminal offenses with which he is charged," stated the statement that Jovanović sent to the media at the time.
Although Mandic's legal representative claimed that his client was charged with attempted murder solely on the basis of the statements of the two injured parties, during the hearing at the Higher Prosecutor's Office they denied that he shot at them and did not join the criminal prosecution.
Darko Perović testified at the hearing that Mandić did not shoot at him, and also claimed that he had suffered threats and blackmail from the police to accuse the nephew of the speaker of parliament of the wounding. The police therefore filed criminal charges against him.
The opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and Social Democrats (SD) filed an initiative in early May to dismiss Andrija Mandić due to an incident in which his nephew allegedly participated, using an official vehicle, which was discussed in parliament in early June, but the proposal to dismiss the head of the highest legislative chamber did not “pass”. His dismissal was supported by 20 MPs, while 41 were against.
In addition to the proposal for dismissal, DPS and SD, along with the Civic Movement URA, submitted an initiative to the Parliamentary Committee for Security and Defense at the end of April for a control hearing of the Supreme State Prosecutor. Milorad Marković and Acting Director of the Police Directorate Lazar ŠćepanovićThe hearing on this occasion was held on July 21, but without the presence of Marković, who then informed the parliament that he would not attend the session, and in a letter he pointed out that, among other things, the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office is not subject to oversight by the Security Committee.
Šćepanović then claimed that the proceedings had determined who was using the vehicle and who had the authorization, and that this information was in the prosecutor's office. He reiterated that Danilo Mandić is not employed by the Police Directorate, and that he did not know what his legal employment status was in the Parliament.
"Vijesti" wrote at the end of May that the nephew of the head of parliament was never employed or engaged in any other capacity in the Service of the highest legislative house.
Therefore, the question arises as to how he was allegedly able to steal the vehicle of the highest legislative house.
The DPS previously said that in any democratic country, the Speaker of the Parliament "in these circumstances" would immediately resign, not because he is legally obliged to, but because he knows that "after such events, he is morally unworthy to continue performing his duties."
Parliament and Mandić are still not responding to "Vijesti"'s questions regarding the vehicle allegedly driven by Danilo Mandić on April 19, which is being taken to that institution.
Andrija Mandić announced on April 30 that he had not spoken out about his nephew's case until then so that no one would have reason to say that he was putting pressure on the authorities.
"This is a new Montenegro, and no one in it can be exempted from the application of legal punishment, provided that they are truly guilty. I learned about the situation and the accusations against my nephew from the media, as did most citizens. According to official information, the two lightly injured people explicitly claim that Danilo is not connected to the unfortunate incident, and despite that he is in pretrial detention," he wrote at the time on the X network.
The President of the Assembly stated that he expects the investigation to "be swift, thorough and independent."
"Unless someone thinks that he (Danil Mandić) should be shot before the end of the trial, and it would be good if such people announced that publicly and thus exposed themselves before the Montenegrin public," he concluded.
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