The main trial phase of the Rožajac Trial sees E. Š. as the accused, charged with raping his former spouse. This is the only information obtainable from the Podgorica High Court regarding these proceedings.

According to a response from the public relations advisor of the court, Ivana Vukmirović, “The court’s decision confirms the indictment from the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica against defendant E. Š. due to reasonable suspicion of committing the crime of rape under Article 204, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, in conjunction with the offense of violence in the family or family community as stated in Article 220, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro. The case is currently in the main trial phase. Following Article 314 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the public is excluded from the main trial. Disclosing any information in such proceedings would breach the obligation to maintain official secrecy, hence we are unable to provide further details.”

Inquiries from “Vijesti” to the court regarding the current status of the case against E. Š. and the number of hearings conducted thus far were made, since the public trial schedule lacks information about this case.

Thirty-three-year-old E. Š. was detained in early April of the previous year on suspicions of raping and physically assaulting his ex-wife.

Following a hearing at the Podgorica Higher Prosecutor’s Office, an order was issued to commence an investigation, with a proposed detention that was subsequently approved by the Higher Court in Podgorica.

An indictment was issued in May, and once it was confirmed, the trial commenced, which has been closed to the public.

The indictment alleges that on February 19, 2024, E. Š. engaged in sexual intercourse with his former common-law wife without her consent.

This occurrence took place after she decided to end their relationship.

Last year, “Vijesti” detailed the instances of abuse that the victim claimed to have endured over several months.

These allegations are also reflected in the indictment, which asserts that Rožajac abused his ex-wife at the end of March 2023 during a wedding.

The indictment further states that after noticing her gaze towards another man, E. Š. pinched her arms and legs, and once they returned to the apartment meant for their overnight stay, he threw her onto the bed, suffocated her with pillows, pulled her hair, and uttered derogatory remarks.

In a later incident, a month afterwards, at their family residence in Rožaje following a brief argument, he struck her, resulting in a split lip, pointed a gun at her, and held the barrel to her temple, then forcibly threw her onto a mattress, brandishing a knife close to her throat, and locked her in upstairs for approximately two hours.

On July 28, 2023, as cited in the indictment, E. Š. again assaulted his ex-wife when she declined to engage in intimate relations with him.

Furthermore, on December 30, 2023, in their family home, an argument stemming from text messages exchanged while he was out led to him punching and kicking her in the head and body.

As described, he dragged her by the hair down the hallway and up the stairs, threw her into a room, continued to batter her while using offensive names, spat on her, plucked her eyelashes, poked her in the eyes, scratched her hands, and kicked her. He then took her to a rented apartment where he maintained the physical violence, causing her screams to be heard by nearby guests. The intimidation continued until he eventually told her to be quiet and ceased the beating.

According to the indictment, sometime in January 2024, while in a vehicle, he repeatedly struck her in the head and yanked her hair, accusing her of flirting with his son-in-law and “showing him her rear.” In the same incident, he threatened her eyesight by putting his fingers in her eyes, referring to them as “whore eyes,” and during the journey, he assaulted her again, pulling her hair and banging her head against the windshield.

On March 24, 2024, the prosecutor indicated that E. Š. made threats against her after discovering she was staying at a hotel with someone he labeled as his “enemy.”

The prosecutor details that he called her, threatening “to slaughter her with a knife, to extract her liver and remove her organs while she remained alive, indicating that she would die in suffering, that he would serve a light sentence for it, and that no medical expert could prove her cause of death, stating that he would be her final destination in life and that her grave would be in R.”

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