The Court of Appeal of Montenegro announced today that the ruling which clears former Mayor of Podgorica, Miomir Mugoša, of the charge for abusing his official position has become final.

“Following a public session of the council on February 4, 2025, the Court of Appeals of Montenegro ruled out the appeal from the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT) as unfounded and upheld the verdict from the High Court in Podgorica – Special Department Ks.br. 10/23 of July 22, 2024. Consequently, this verdict has become final, exonerating the accused Miomir Mugoša of the charge of abusing his official position,” the statement indicated.

On July 22, Mugoša was found not guilty of abusing his official position by the Higher Court in Podgorica.

The SDT accused him of causing a budget loss to the Capital City amounting to 6.7 million euros related to the sale of city land to the construction firm DOO “Carine” and for providing the same benefit to “Carine.”

Today, the Court of Appeal stated that the SDT had filed an appeal against the previous verdict, requesting the Court of Appeal to overturn the first-instance ruling and remand the case for a new trial and decision.

“In the opinion of the Court of Appeal, and contrary to the claims presented in the appeal from the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, the conclusion of the Higher Court in Podgorica, as the first-instance court, was correct in that it was not conclusively proven that the accused, from July 25, 2007, to May 8, 2012, utilized his public office as Mayor of the Capital City of Podgorica to gain advantages for others and to inflict damage upon the Capital City of Podgorica by issuing two decisions on the transfer of rights to municipal construction land for the completion of urban plots,” stated the Court of Appeal.

The statement also noted that the first-instance court, according to the Court of Appeal, provided clear and comprehensive reasoning for all decisive facts, in alignment with each other and the evidence presented.

“Based on the evidence presented during the main trial and their thorough evaluation, both individually and in relation to one another, along with the defense provided by the accused, the first-instance court properly established and correctly interpreted the legal context in determining that the criminal offense charged against the accused was not proven. The detailed reasoning for the ruling of the Court of Appeal of Montenegro Kž-S.br. 28/24 from February 4, 2025, will be published on the Court of Appeal’s website,” concluded the statement from the Court of Appeal.

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