On August 30, the Šćekić family will mark the 18th anniversary of the murder of Slavoljub Šćekić, a police inspector.
It is paradoxical, but also shocking, that after 17 and a half years, the trial of the defendants for his murder - Saša Boreta, Ljubo Bigović, Milan Šćekić and Ljubo Vujadinović, who are also accused of bombing the Splendid hotel, is starting all over again.
The defendants pleaded not guilty again today.
"At the trial, our defense attorneys pleaded not guilty to the criminal offense in question, and to none of the charges against them in the indictment. From the beginning, what the defense claims, nor do I see any evidence here that they committed anything ", said Dragoljub Đukanović, the defendant's lawyer.
Slavoljub Šćekić was killed on August 30, 2005, in front of the family house in the Tološi neighborhood of Podgorica, because he was in charge of the investigation into the bomb attacks on the Splendid Hotel, which is why, according to the indictment, he was liquidated.
The defendants repeated today that they were convicted based on the false testimony of a protected witness and that they had nothing to do with the murder of Šćekić.
"I am not guilty. The whole narrative of this indictment, the bombing and the killing of the policeman is a complete lie. I consider all the accusations to be a complete violent fiction. I regret that there was no Sky application then, because everything would have been known," said the defendant Boreta.
Bigović said that the DFA was not guilty and had "nothing to do with the murder of Slavoljub Šćekić".
"I am not guilty and I have never seen Slavoljub Šćekić in my life and I have no contact with his murder," said Šćekić.
Vujadinović also said that he is not guilty and that he has "nothing to do with the criminal acts that are being charged against me".
The sister of the murdered inspector, Slavica Šćekić, is outraged.
"My family and I are very angry at the work of the judicial authorities because they allowed the court proceedings for the murder of a high-ranking police official to be delayed for so long, to last indefinitely," Šćekić said.
When asked by Slavica Šćekić, Saša Boreta said that he had never had contact with ANB agents Zoran Lazović and Duško Golubović in his life and denied that they helped him hide after the murder. However, Šćekić presented some details in court.
"The defendant Saša Boreta was once an external associate of Duško Golubović and Zoran Lazović, which is shown by the fact that he wore a police badge. I suspect that Saša Boreta was on the night of my brother's murder together with these two men in the Grand Cherokee jeep who helped to the perpetrators of my brother's murder to move away from the scene of the crime and thus enable them to escape," Šćekić said.
This is the fourth trial of the defendants. The last verdict, by which the four defendants were sentenced to 30 years in prison each, was pronounced in 2012 by judge Biljana Uskoković, and was confirmed by the Appellate and Supreme Courts. However, in 2019, the Constitutional Court annulled the verdict of the Supreme Court, judging that their right to a fair and just trial had been violated. After that, the Supreme Court returned the case to the Appellate Court, and the Appellate Court returned it to the High Court. Viši considered that he had no right to judge for the fourth time, so the Supreme Court took the position that the Appellate Court still has jurisdiction.
The defense devoted the most time to this in the courtroom, so they refused to plead to the abrogated judgment of the High Court, but only to the circumstances of the indictment, considering that the Appellate Court is not competent.
The defendants again requested that their detention, in which they have been held since 2006, and Milan Čila Šćekić since 2011, be lifted, which was opposed by the prosecution and the family, so the court panel refused.
"One of the defendants, the perpetrator of my brother's murder, Čila Šćekić hid for three years in the Netherlands. If he was innocent, why would he hide? Someone who is innocent has nothing to fear," Šćekić said.
Lawyer Đukanović said that "everyone with common sense should ask what is achieved by detention after 17 or more years".
The court in Strasbourg twice ruled in favor of Bigović and the others, due to the excessive duration of detention, and the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which takes care of the execution of the judgments, is awaited.
Slavica Šćekić believes that there are obstructions in order not to find out who ordered the murder.
"I repeat a thousand times, that the person who ordered the murder of my brother was Milo Đukanović. The fact that someone does not have the courage to file an indictment against him is another matter," Šćekić said.
The trial continues on June 20.
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