The former president of the Commercial Court Blažo Jovanić and the former assistant director of the police Dejan Knežević breathed fresh air two days ago outside the walls of the Spuša prison, as they were released to defend themselves from freedom.
Jovanić is accused of embezzlement in bankruptcy proceedings, but at the end of last year, the Court of Appeal confirmed the decision of the High Court to accept his bail of 768 thousand euros in real estate, which was offered by his family.
A guarantee for Knežević of 760 thousand euros in real estate was given by his friends, and it was also accepted by the Court of Appeal on the same day.
Knežević is accused of giving away secret information to members of the Kavački clan.
Lawyers claim that these decisions are correct and that the courts have so far shied away from judging the public too much.
"It is correct that the Appellate Court has begun to ignore this expectation of the public to some extent and makes legal, proper and conscientious decisions regarding the detention of those particular defendants, because in most of these cases that detention is based on this expectation of the public," the lawyer told Television Vijesti. Andrijana Razić.
On the other hand, in the same case as Knežević, the president of the municipality of Budva, Milo Božović, is also involved, but the bail of over one million and 300 thousand euros did not help him to defend himself from the accusations that, as a member of the Parliament and a member of the Security Committee, he , gave secret information to the Kavačka clan, and participated in the smuggling of a ton and a half of cocaine.
The High Court explained the refusal by the fact that it is a criminal offense for which a prison sentence of ten years or more can be imposed and which is particularly difficult due to the way it was committed or the consequences. The bail of about 540 thousand euros for the former director of the Real Estate Administration, Dragan Kovačević, was also rejected, because part of the bail providers are under financial investigation.
At the end of last year, Marko Vučinić and Marjan Bevenja, suspected of being members of the criminal group of the son of the former President of the Supreme Court, Miloš Medenica, were allowed to defend themselves from freedom, but he, on the other hand, remained in custody, since the Court of Appeal found that he was part of of his offered guarantee of almost 789 thousand euros, under financial investigation.
Although in these cases the trials have not even started yet and in others they are generally taking too long, Razić points out that custody cases must have priority.
"Cases of an urgent nature, which according to the Criminal Procedure Code itself, must be dealt with quickly," said Razić.
The Minister of Justice, Andrej Milović, recently announced that he will advocate for the abolition of the provision of the Criminal Code which stipulates that detention, if a verdict is not reached within three years, is abolished. For Razić, this is unacceptable.
"Absolute violation of all possible rights of the accused, all possible standards of democracy, rule of law," said Razić.
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