The hearing for the review of the indictment for the 743 kilos of cocaine seized in the Netherlands was held in the High Court in Podgorica before the extrajudicial panel presided over by Judge Boris Savić.
Special prosecutor Zoran Vučinić proposed to the court to confirm the indictment against the defendants Radoj Zvicer, Milan Vujotić, Dragan Knežević and Slobodan Kašćelan.
The prosecutor stated that the indictment is based on the communications made through the Sky application, which he considers to be valid legal evidence that the French judicial authorities submitted to Montenegro.
In addition to Sky communications, prosecutor Zoran Vučinić said that the indictment is also based on part of the evidence obtained from the judicial authorities of the Netherlands through international legal aid.
Contrary to the position of the prosecutor, the defense attorneys of the defendants Zvicer, Vujotić, Knežević and Kašćelan asked the court to suspend the criminal proceedings against the accused who, as a criminal organization, organized the smuggling of 700 kilograms of cocaine that was seized in Rotterdam in 2020.
Lawyer Marko Radović pointed out that this is a specific situation because the criminal offense was committed in the Netherlands and there is no evidence in the case files that the competent authorities of that country transferred criminal prosecution against the suspected perpetrators to Montenegro. Lawyer Radović said that if the indictment against his client Radoj Zvicer and others is confirmed, both the court and the prosecution will run into serious complications.
"I think that after all these years, it's time for you to hear us and respect us. Whether Radoje Zvicer will have 10 or 20 procedures becomes irrelevant, but please listen to us and dismiss the indictment in this case," stressed lawyer Radović.
He reminded that the criminal offense was committed in a foreign country, and that the special prosecution did not offer a single proof that the accused organized the drug smuggling business from the territory of Montenegro.
"Whether criminal proceedings are being conducted in the Netherlands is a question that even the prosecutor would not know how to answer now, because in the case files there is only evidence of the seizure of drugs in Rotterdam. It seems to me that the SDT has taken on much more than it deserves", believes lawyer Radović. He added that our citizens can be tried if they happened to be in Montenegro or were handed over to our state authorities.
As an illogicality of the indictment, he stated that Radoje Zvicer was charged as a member of a criminal organization in one indictment for the same criminal offense of smuggling 700 kilograms of cocaine, and as an organizer in this indictment.
"In this case, he is charged as the organizer of a criminal organization behind the smuggling of 700 kilograms of cocaine, while according to the indictment KVSO 28/23, he simultaneously committed the smuggling of 700 kilograms of cocaine as a member of a criminal organization. I ask the court to familiarize itself with the indictment KVSO 28/23, which judge Vesna Kovačević returned to the SDT for supplementing the investigation. This indictment cannot exist as an independent case," said lawyer Radović.
Lawyer Miloš Vuksanović, the defense attorney of the defendant Vujotić, agreed with the position of his colleague Radović, while the defender of Kašćelan, lawyer Dragoljub Đukanović, contested the validity of the communications from the Sky application because the defense does not know how, where and when those communications were "taken down".
"It is well known what international legal assistance is, and the defense of the accused has not explained in a single word how this documentation was obtained. What cannot be verified through the original cannot be evidence, and I would like to remind you that we received the SKY communications in an EXCEL table in which the data can be easily changed. It is known what the original is, and it is not an EXCEL table", pointed out lawyer Đukanović.
He reminded that Judge Miroslav Bašović rejected the SDT's proposal to order custody of Kašćelan based on the Sky evidence and explained that these communications in Montenegro cannot be evidence because they were delivered by the foreign police even though they are called EUROPOL.
The accused Slobodan Kašćelan said that he is not guilty and that he has nothing to defend himself from.
"I also told the prosecutor that I will answer every question and that I do not need a confidential conversation with a lawyer. I told him: "Please, ask" but he didn't ask me anything", Kašćelan said at the hearing.
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