The trial of defendant Duško Knežević and additional defendants in the “carbon credits” case resumed today at the Higher Court in Podgorica. The anticipated testimony of witness collaborator Đorđe Đurđić was not conducted as he failed to appear for the organized trial.

Judge Igor Đuričković, the president of the special panel, noted that there was no record in the case files indicating that Đurđić had received a summons.

Defendant Knežević’s attorney, Dražen Medojević, requested the court to invalidate the statement given by witness Đurđić during the investigation at the SDT, arguing it should be removed from the case file as legally untenable evidence.

Medojević also suggested that the court should revoke Đurđić’s status as a cooperating witness, explaining that to qualify for such status, one must be part of a criminal organization.

“A criminal organization is aimed at committing unlawful acts. In his statement to the SDT, Đurđić only referred to one loan and claimed he was not involved in others. If he were truly part of a criminal organization, he would have been engaged in those actions. It’s evident that Đurđić was not a member, as he lacked knowledge of the events in question. I propose his status as a cooperating witness be rescinded. During his questioning with the prosecutor, he did not mention the accused Dašić or Nikolić,” Medojević elaborated.

In support of Medojević’s proposal, Knežević’s defense attorney, Dušan Radosavljević, highlighted additional points.

“According to the case, Đorđe Đurđić holds the status of a cooperating witness. In a separate case against Knežević, he agreed to a plea deal; however, in another case, he is identified as an ordinary witness, while in yet another, he is again designated as a cooperating witness. This inconsistency is absurd; the same individual cannot possess conflicting legal characteristics. Đurđić should not have been designated as a cooperating witness,” Radosavljević stated.

The defense attorney for defendants Brankica and Biljana Bašović, Bojana Franović Kovačević, supported her colleagues’ request, asserting that the statement must be discarded as legally invalid evidence.

Special Prosecutor Miroslav Šoškić deferred the assessment of the defense’s proposals to the court, providing his perspective.

“It is a fact that on June 10, 2019, Đorđe Đurđić asserted before the SDT: ‘I cannot comment on the loans granted by IBM Bank to the legal entities “Fin Invest”, “Atlas Group”, “RTV Atlas”, “RT Mimoza”, and by Atlas Bank to the legal entity “Atlas Systems”, including the deposit that served as collateral, and the loans that were partially or fully returned. I did not engage in any legal dealings involving these loans,’” the prosecutor recounted the cooperating witness’s testimony.

“Clearly, the cooperating witness provided his testimony after the court conferred him the status of a cooperating witness. I leave it to the court to deliberate on the defense’s propositions,” said Šoškić.

Judge Đuričković announced that the court will make a decision during a forthcoming main trial session, prior to the beginning of Đorđe Đurđić’s testimony.

The accused Zoran Nikolić submitted a written request to the court to halt the criminal proceedings against him due to the absolute statute of limitations, stating that by February 25, 2025, the absolute limitations period will have lapsed, as more than ten years have passed since the offense’s consequences emerged. The court will formally forward this request to the SDT.

Among other allegations, the indictment against Duško Knežević claims that he, Predrag Dašić, Zoran Nikolić, Brankica Bašović, and Biljana Bašović caused damage to the legal entity “Global Karbon” DOO Podgorica, yielding illicit gains amounting to 1 euro from the legal entities “Fin Invest”, “Atlas Grupa”, RTV “Atlas”, “RT Mimoza”, “Atlas Sistem”, and “Mega Gulf Investments Holdings Limited”.

The trial is set to resume on April 16.

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