In the Special Court in Belgrade, the presentation of the prosecution's closing arguments at the trial of Darko Šarić and other defendants for cocaine smuggling began, as the evidentiary proceedings ended earlier today.
Although the defense attorneys objected to the decision to start with closing arguments today, the court panel of judge Siniša Petrović decided that, after a break, the deputy prosecutor for organized crime, Saša Ivanić, would begin his presentation.
In the closing statement, the evidence and witness statements are summarized, and the prosecution proposes to the court the type and amount of punishment for the accused.
After the prosecution's presentation, closing arguments will be presented by the accused and their defense attorneys, which is not expected to be during the day.
After everyone has said what they have in the end, the court will determine the date of the first-instance verdict.
This process began in October 2009 with the arrest of the first suspects and the seizure of about two tons of cocaine in Uruguay.
At today's trial, the accused Nikola Dimitrijević denied that he smuggled cocaine from Brazil as a member of Darko Šarić's group.
Presenting his defense, Dimitrijević said that he had nothing to do with the acts charged against him in the indictment because he was not in the territory of Brazil at that moment and he offered the court written documentation from the Brazilian Federal Police with his claims.
Acting prosecutor Saša Ivanić, however, opposed that proposal, stating that the documentation is irrelevant to this process, because he was not accused of criminal acts committed in Brazil.
The accused did not want to answer the questions of the prosecutor, as well as the lawyer and members of the court panel.
Dimitrijević, aka Johnny, was on the run for three years, and he surrendered a little before Sarić, at the beginning of March 2014.
Previously, he posted a bail of 200.000 euros for his defense while at liberty, and the court deactivated the warrant issued for him.
In the continuation of the trial, the court rejected the prosecution's proposal to listen to the intercepted telephone communication of Darko Šarić from January 2009, with the explanation that it is not relevant to this case.
The court then decided to end the evidentiary proceedings and begin the closing arguments.
At the last trial, the court rejected a series of motions by the defense of the accused Šarić to cross-examine numerous witnesses, including people from the top of the police force.
Saric and others are on trial on charges of organizing the smuggling of 5,7 tons of cocaine from Latin America to Western Europe. The first arrests and seizures of cocaine took place in October 2009 in Uruguay.
On March 18, 2014, Šarić surrendered to the Serbian authorities after several years on the run, after which he was arrested and has been in custody ever since.
He claims that he is not guilty on any of the charges and that the seized drugs are not his, so he has repeatedly accused police officers and controversial businessmen of having framed the charges against him.
Although a total of 36 members of Šarić's group were indicted in six combined indictments, there are nine other defendants in the dock of the Special Court in Belgrade besides Šarić, since 14 of them are still on the run, nine have pleaded guilty, and three have received the status of cooperating witnesses.
Apart from Šarić and Nikola Dimitrijević, Željko Vujanović, Miloš Cajić, Borislav Tunjić, Nikola Dimitrijević, Živko Sibinski, Boban Stojiljković, Marko Dabović and Aleksandra Mišić are on the dock.
Collaborating witnesses in this proceeding are Radan Adamović, Nebojša Joksović and Draško Vuković. They are not exempt from prosecution, even though they are not sentenced at the end of the process, as a "reward" for their cooperation in solving crimes.
In April 2013, the unified trial of the Šarić group began in the Special Court in Belgrade on six indictments for smuggling more than a total of 5,7 tons of cocaine from Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina to Western Europe during 2008 and 2009.
Also on the run are Rodoljub Radulović aka Miša Banana, Goran Soković, Marko Pandrc, Nenad Novaković, Boško Nedić, Darko Tošić, Darko Gazdić, Milovan Milovac, Bojan Stanojković, Petar Obradović, Marko Račić, Vladimir Račić, Mihajlo Đoković and Nebojša Sretenović.
An Interpol warrant has been issued for them.
Bonus video:
