Special Prosecutor Miloš Šoškić has submitted the revised indictment against former Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoj Katnić and former Assistant Director of the Police Administration Zoran Lazović to the High Court, as confirmed to Vijesti.

“I can confirm that today the SDT has filed the indictment against the defendants MK and ZL with the Higher Court in Podgorica,” said court spokesperson Ivana Vukmirović to Vijesti.

The trial chamber, chaired by Zoran Radović and including Nenad Vujanović and Vesna Kovačević, returned the document to the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT) on Thursday, granting them three days to rectify the identified issues.

The ruling states that the prosecutor failed to clarify whether the criminal organization was established at the beginning of 2020, at some other point that year, or when it ceased operations…

“Additionally, it remains uncertain when the defendant Milivoje Katnić, along with the accused Saša Čađenović and Petar Lazović, became members of a criminal organization… This is particularly significant given that, in accordance with Article 401a, paragraph 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, the formation of a criminal organization requires the presence of three or more members, and it is unclear when the organization run by defendant Zoran Lazović was recognized as a criminal organization… or since when three members acted within it. Furthermore, based on Article 292 of the CPC, which outlines the content of the indictment (including the name and personal data of the defendant – Article 292, paragraph 1, item 1 of the CPC), it is noted that an indictment cannot be filed against unidentified individuals. In this case, although an indictment has been submitted against two individuals, there are also unnamed members of the criminal organization referenced without any indication in the case files or the indictment’s explanation regarding these unidentified members,” states the High Court document.

It was further clarified that the indictment’s coherence is compromised by the fact that Katnić’s term as Chief Special Prosecutor concluded in February 2022.

“In this case, the benefits derived by members of the criminal organization are not specified in the factual representation of the offense under Article 401a expressed in Count I of the indictment, nor is there any mention of the crimes of abuse of official position under Article 416, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro found in Counts II, III, and IV of the indictment, indicating that Zoran Lazović, through his actions of abuse of official position under Article 416, paragraph 1 (Count II), Zoran Lazović and Milivoje Katnić under Article 416, paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 23, paragraph 2 (Count III), and Milivoje Katnić under Article 416, paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 23, paragraph 2 (Count IV) gained material advantage, which in turn adds to the “incomprehension of the indictment,” judges concluded.

Additionally, the judges requested a revision concerning the section that pertains to lifting the entry ban into Montenegro for members of Radoje Zvicer’s criminal organization – specifically Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković, since a statement from former Assistant Director of the Police Directorate, Enis Baković, suggests that no decision was made regarding their entry prohibition into Montenegro.

“This is further corroborated by the witness statement from Vesko Damjanović, who was acting director of the Police Directorate at the time. In this factual context, the determination surrounding the criminal offense listed in Count II of the indictment remains ambiguous, namely that the defendant Zoran Lazović allegedly asked the Assistant Director of the Police Directorate for the Criminal Police Sector, Enis Baković, to remove the entry ban into Montenegro for the above-mentioned members of the criminal organization from Serbia, when, according to the relevant provisions of the Law on Foreigners, no such ban had ever been issued.”

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