The Prosecutorial Council did not oversee the actions of state prosecutors in the case involving the murder of security guard Ljubiša Mrdak and the robbery at the Post Office in Nikšić due to an absence of complaints regarding their legality.

Responding to “Vijesti,” the Prosecutorial Council articulated that it has the authority to monitor the work of state prosecutors either through evaluation processes or by examining complaints related to their legal conduct and that of state prosecutorial offices.

“In this particular matter, there were no such complaints,” they noted in their statement.

The Prosecutorial Council pointed out that the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica has expressed intentions to appeal to the Court of Appeal of Montenegro concerning the recent verdict from the Higher Court in Podgorica that acquitted all seven defendants in the initial trial related to murder and aggravated robbery in October 2021.

Judge of the Higher Court in Podgorica Veljko Radovanović noted during the sentencing on February 25 this year that the indictment failed to clarify which individual fired the lethal shots at security guard Ljubiša Mrdak.

While explaining the first-instance acquittal, the president of the criminal chamber mentioned that the court had to assume the role of an investigative entity, considering allegations in the indictment that “remained unproven.”

“Effectively, the trial chamber was confronted with a fait accompli, needing to evaluate based on such an indictment. The court had to undertake its own investigation, with numerous witnesses heard and countless hours of video footage reviewed.”

The defendants Mitar Knežević, Stojan Albijanic, Nemanja Miljković, Petar Zolak, Srdjan Svjetlanović, David Banjac, and Stefan Regojević were acquitted of all charges by the initial ruling.

Judge Radovanović remarked that inadequacies in the prosecutor’s investigation ultimately resulted in “this indictment,” asserting that many claims from the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office were merely speculative and some did not even reach the level of evidence.

Radovanović expressed that the court endeavored, though it was not its responsibility, to investigate during the trial hearings, yet it found that even extensive video evidence offered little clarity to the case…

Two months prior to the filing of the indictment, Maja Jovanović was appointed acting Supreme State Prosecutor by the decision of the Prosecutorial Council, and prosecutor Tatjana Begović took over the case of the murder of Mrdak and the robbery of the Nikšić post office. She filed the indictment, but following Begović’s appointment as acting Supreme State Prosecutor ten months later, the case was reassigned to her colleagues from the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office – Armin Selmanović and Radmila Gačević.

On the following day, the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica responded and announced plans to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

In their statement, they highlighted that they conducted a thorough investigation within six months, after which the indictment was filed and validated by the panel of the Higher Court in Podgorica.

“We emphasize that the detention of the accused in this indictment was prolonged throughout the proceedings due to reasonable suspicions regarding their involvement in the alleged criminal activities. Concerning the unsubstantiated remarks of the panel president – ‘that the panel of judges was compelled to conduct an investigation during court proceedings’, we wish to clarify that the court did not independently present any evidence,” the statement from the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica states.

Initially, the investigation was headed by then-senior state prosecutor Maja Jovanović, and approximately twenty days post-crime and robbery of nearly half a million euros intended for pension payments, she, along with the then-head of the Criminal Investigation Department and the current acting director of the Police Directorate, Lazar Šćepanović, informed the public that the case had been solved.

Two months prior to the indictment filing, Maja Jovanović was appointed acting Supreme State Prosecutor, leading to the case of the murder of Mrdak and the Post Office robbery in Nikšić being assumed by prosecutor Tatjana Begović.

Begović filed the indictment, but after her appointment as acting head of the State Prosecutor’s Office ten months later, the case was handed over to colleagues from the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office – Armin Selmanović and Radmila Gačević.

On February 25, Judge Veljko Radovanović delivered a first-instance acquittal for all seven defendants who stood trial for murder and aggravated robbery in October 2021. The Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica announced it would appeal to the Court of Appeal of Montenegro.

Attorney Maja Zeković, representing the defendant Nemanja Miljković, indicated that the first-instance ruling should incite serious examination of the actions taken by individual prosecutors during the investigative phase, as well as the decisions made by the panel when scrutinizing the indictment.

Protests were also organized in Nikšić following the first-instance acquittal of the defendants linked to the armed robbery of the Post Office and the murder of Ljubiša Mrdak.

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