While the defense team for former Supreme Court President Vesna Medenica seeks to dismiss crucial evidence in the ongoing trial, alleging it was gathered unlawfully during the investigation of the “Cijevna komerc” case, attorney Veselin Radulović remarked to “Vijesti” that these requests are “merely baseless efforts to prolong the process.”

At the latest hearing on June 19, 2023, Medenica’s defense requested to call her daughter, Marija Medenica, as a witness to provide clarification regarding the apartment search carried out by the Special Police Department following Medenica’s arrest in April 2022. The court approved this request.

The indictment states that during the apartment search, a folder containing a Basic Court verdict related to the company “Cijevna komerc” was discovered.

The search took place on April 19, 2022, while Medenica was hospitalized at the Clinical Center due to health issues. According to the Police Directorate’s documentation (03/9-295/22), as well as the minutes from the search, her daughter did not raise any objections to the police’s actions.

Attorney Zdravko Begović noted in court that Medenica was absent from the hearing.

“According to the Criminal Procedure Code, a search warrant must be presented to the property’s owner prior to the search, and Vesna Medenica never received such a warrant,” Begović asserted.

Consequently, Medenica’s defense lawyer requested the court to disregard the folder found during the search, claiming it should be considered “illegally obtained evidence.”

Begović questioned the validity of retrieving the verdict from a disorganized stack of documents, suggesting that it could have been planted during the search.

Radulović: Evidence Does Not Favor Them

In response, attorney Veselin Radulović told “Vijesti” that the claims made by Medenica’s defense regarding the necessity of a search warrant for the “exclusive” owner of the property lack foundation, as the Criminal Procedure Code does not stipulate this.

“According to Article 80, paragraph 1 of the CPC, the search warrant must be presented before the search begins to the individual whose premises are being searched. This person should be informed of their right to have a lawyer present, and the search should be postponed until the lawyer arrives, for a maximum of two hours. Furthermore, Article 81 mandates that the apartment or house owner (not exclusively) be invited to attend the search. If absent, a representative or an adult household member or neighbor should accompany the search, while two adult witnesses are required to supervise and can voice objections to the search report,” Radulović clarified.

He asserts that these provisions indicate that the warrant does not need to be shown to the “exclusive” owner but rather to the person to whom the search pertains, confirming that the warranted search followed proper procedures, with no objections raised by the present witnesses, including the defendant’s daughter.

The lawyer emphasized that demands for the search warrant to have been presented solely to Vesna Medenica, who was hospitalized at the time, are unreasonable.

“While Medenica, like any defendant, has the right to pursue her defense as she sees fit, it appears her intentions focus more on complicating and delaying the process. The evidence uncovered during the search does not support her defense and seems to have been collected in compliance with the Criminal Procedure Code, in the presence of her daughter, a lawyer, and two witnesses, all of whom raised no objections,” Radulović concluded.

Petrović Acknowledges Payment of 150,000

Accused Vasilije Petrović stated in May 2022 that he informed SDT investigators about his suspicions that his godfathers, the Popovićs, owners of “Fablive,” were allegedly providing money to Miloš Medenica in order to secure favorable court rulings.

In the course of the investigation into Miloš Medenica’s criminal organization, where his mother Vesna Medenica is suspected to be involved, Petrović noted on May 7, 2022, that the issues facing “Cijevna komerc” date back to 2010 or 2011, due to Montenegrin courts unlawfully seizing their property.

He mentioned that Medenica sent Nikola Raičević to negotiate regarding the case, directing him to first review the case files with Vesna, which he did by retrieving files stamped with ‘Cijevna Comerce’ from his archive.

Petrović communicated to prosecutors that after a while, Raičević informed him that “Vesna had reviewed the files and the case could be closed.”

The Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT) accuses him of inducing unlawful influence, with Petrović confirming that he gave Raičević 125,000 euros on two occasions for Miloš and Vesna Medenica to “resolve the case that ‘Cijevna komerc’ had before the Supreme Court.”

After a year without a favorable ruling, he demanded a return of the funds he had already provided.

SDT: Interest in Case Spanning Months

The indictment by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office alleges that between June 24 and July 3, 2020, former Supreme Court President Medenica repeatedly contacted a judge from the Higher Court in Podgorica to discuss the case.

Details in the indictment outline the precise times and individuals with whom Medenica inquired about the case, which saw its first-instance verdict upheld on October 13, 2020, while the appeal from “Cijevna komerc” was denied.

It is recorded that Medenica handed over a note to Petrović, through Miloš Medenica and Vučinić Marko, featuring the judgment title of the European Court of Human Rights against Montenegro, suggesting he provide it to his lawyer for reference in the appeal against the second-instance decision.

The SDT indicates that Medenica had discussions with two Supreme Court judges after her tenure—Radom Kovačević and Vesna Begović.

From February 26 to July 3, 2021, Medenica inquired multiple times about the status of the case from a Supreme Court judge. Notably, Vesna Vučković recounted that Medenica asked: “Did you consult Cijevna komerc?” but they had returned it due to disagreements on the claims. In May 2021, Judge Vučković informed Medenica via SMS that: “the Cijevna and Omorika case is not ready, Vesna B returned it to the council for a reevaluation, but it has been postponed again.” Following this, Medenica suggested that they review relevant European Court judgments that could relate to the matter at hand, subtly implying that the prosecutor’s appeal should be supported. In July 2021, she again inquired whether the case had concluded, to which Vučković confirmed it had been resolved, as per the Supreme Court of Montenegro’s ruling, partially granting the second defendant’s appeal and quashing previous judgments.

The Special State Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against Miloš and Vesna Medenica, Darko Lalović, Bojan and Marko Popović, Marko Vučinić, Milorad Medenica, Luke Bakoča, Petar Milutinović, Ivan Kovačević, Radomir Raičević, Marjana Bevenje, Steve Karanikić, Goran Jovanović, and the company “Kopad Company” for offenses related to organized crime, smuggling, bribery, abuse of official position, and more.

“Mother Knows Best”

During the investigation, defendant Vasilije Petrović alleged that negotiations with Medenica were conducted through Nikola Raičević to secure a favorable court outcome.

Raičević refuted these claims at a hearing on March 26, asserting that he “never requested or accepted any money on behalf of Milos and Vesna Medenica.”

Petrović claimed he transferred 125,000 euros to Medenica through Raičević, plus an additional 25,000. However, following the adverse Higher Court decision in October, he began applying pressure.

“He immediately started to exert pressure because that was not the agreement, to which they reassured him, stating, ‘mother knows best,'” states the SDT indictment.

Petrović continued, recalling that Raičević provided him with a note detailing a dispute where someone had successfully sued Montenegro at the European Court, stating that “Vesna advised him to reference this decision in the appeal to gain an edge in the dispute.”

After the elections on August 30, he expected the dispute to be challenging, prompting him to seek a refund from Medenica.

“In early January 2021, he, along with Raičević and Miloš Medenica, met. During this meeting, he urged Medenica to reimburse him to avoid complications. Miloš requested patience regarding the situation. Subsequently, he demanded double his contribution should they fail, to which Miloš agreed and subsequently returned 100,000 euros, affirming that the agreement remained intact,” the SDT’s indictment notes.

Petrović described that upon losing patience—and knowing that Medenica had received three apartments from “Fablive” as a bribe—he asked them to sell two of the units to repay double his contribution.

After securing buyers for the two apartments, Medenica honored the agreement.

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