Both the state prosecutor and the defense lawyers demanded that the verdict against the special prosecutor be annulled Lidija Mitrović sentenced to seven months in prison for abuse of official position.
The first-instance verdict was pronounced in the Podgorica High Court in November last year.
Yesterday, a panel session was held in the Appellate Court of Montenegro where the appeal of the former special prosecutor was discussed.
The defendant, Lidija Mitrović, said at the panel session that as a judge and prosecutor, she never worked to cause harm to anyone.
She stated that none of the findings of economic and financial experts Ljiljana Dakić and Nemanja Nikolić, which are in the case files, were made on the basis of bookkeeping documentation and that the expert whom she hired personally came to completely different conclusions, especially regarding the amount of taxes and the amount obligations that condition both the legal qualification of the criminal offense and, in the specific case, the application of the institute of deferred prosecution.
Mitrović requested that the verdict be changed and that the Appellate Court acquit her of the charges or return for a new trial and decision.
State prosecutor Đurđina Nina Ivanovic, she asked the second-instance court to accept the prosecution's appeal, cancel the verdict and send the case back for a new trial.
She pointed to, as she claims, the failure of the first-instance court, which, in aggravating circumstances, did not appreciate the fact that the defendant tried to shift all responsibility to her colleague Ljiljana Dakić.
Defendant Mitrović, lawyer Zoran Piperović he filed an appeal and stated that the first-instance judgment should be annulled due to a significant violation of the procedure and an erroneously established factual situation.
He pointed out that the verdict is significantly contradictory in decisive facts, that it is incomprehensible and unclear and that the only correct decision of the court is to annul it and return it for a new trial.
The Special State Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against prosecutor Mitrović because, as a public official, she obtained benefits by unlawfully exploiting her position Nikola Perović, Suzana Mihailović, Predrag Raičković, Zahudin Bulic i Marina Vujošević - in the period from November 4, 2020 to December 31, 2021, it dismissed the criminal charges against them and postponed the criminal prosecution for the criminal offense of tax and contribution evasion, which is punishable by one to six years in prison.
It says that she did it, even though she knew that this institute could not be used for that work.
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