Today, the trial of five police officers continued before the Basic Court in Podgorica for the criminal offense of extorting testimony followed by severe violence from the victim Marko Boljević. As stated in the defendant’s proposal, Marko Boljević suffered police torture in May 2020 during the investigation of the bombings that took place in Podgorica.
Criminal inspectors Danilo Grbović, Dalibor Ljekočević, Bojan Vujačić, Ivan Peruničić and Nemanja Vujošević were accused of extorting testimony from Boljević. Ljekočević is accused in another case of having committed the same crime against Benjamin Mugoš, for whom proceedings are also still ongoing before the Basic Court in Podgorica.
Today’s trial is a continuation of the one that was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. when the judge stated that the witness Miloš Vučinić did not come to the trial, and until today the court contacted him. Today, the judge informed all parties that the witness is on a work engagement in Slovenia, but that he also expressed his willingness to respond to the court’s summons and to be heard on November 30, 2023. when the trial is scheduled to continue.
At the previous trial, which was held on Tuesday, the witness Srđan Milikić was heard, who stated that he was not sure why he was summoned to the main hearing. He explained that on the day in question, 25.05.2020. worked on application form no. 2 in CB Podgorica and that he remembers only and exclusively the father of the victim, Goran Boljević, and that Goran came on the day in question and told him that his son had been taken into custody.
In his further presentation, Mikilić stated that, in accordance with his powers and responsibilities, he tried to check the whereabouts of his son Marko Boljević, but that he did not receive any feedback. He explained that he called the on-call service, then the on-duty elders, and that he was trying to find out where Marko Boljević was and whether he was taken into custody through the on-duty inspectors. He explained that he does not remember whether he received any of the duty officers on that occasion and with whom he spoke.
It is interesting that witness Milikić states during his testimony that he does not remember anything when it comes to details, and he could not remember whether they found out where Marko Boljević was and whether he was in the Podgorica Security Center.
Prosecutor Romina Vlahović intervened and stated that the witness said that in the end they determined that Boljević was in the Podgorica Security Center. Responding to the special question of prosecutor Vlahović, whether he heard about this event in the media, Milikić stated that he did not read about this event in the media, and that he only heard that the trial was before the court and that he did not know when he found out, because was not interested. He said that he met Boljević once after this, in a taxi, and that there is a possibility that they talked about the event, but that he does not know the details. When asked by the defense counsel of the accused police officers, Milikić explained that he records the persons who enter and pass by his porter’s office. He also stated that there are several application forms, as well as another official entrance and that a person can exit from the other side, that is, through another exit. He explained that he did not know whether there was video surveillance from the day in question, and that he did not remember when he broke up with Goran Boljević and could not remember other details, i.e. whether Boljević found his son or not and whether he left satisfied or dissatisfied. . Milikić, answering the court’s questions, said that it happens that a person comes to his place on the registration form, that he registers him, but then goes out to the other end of the building, that is, to the official entrance, if they give a statement or something similar. He also explained that if they go to his entrance, i.e. go to his application form, he records them.
This was followed by the hearing of the witness Radomana Vujičić, who stated that he partially remembered the day in question, that he was on night shift. He added that the head of the station, Srđan Korać, asked him to prepare a supporting document on the questioning of one person and to deliver those files to the prosecution, and that he cannot remember whether he did it through the prosecutor’s office or handed the supporting document directly to the prosecutor. He also states that, as far as he can remember, the plaintiff in question was Ivana Vuksanović.
The plaintiff submitted for inspection the files of Ktr. no. 654/20, and the witness said that his handwriting was not on that document, that is, he did not write anything in his own hand. Vujičić stated that it is essential for the prosecutor to write the date and time on the supporting document. He said that after the evening in question he did read about the event in question and that he read anything and everything in the newspaper, but that he did not think about the event that happened.
To the attorney’s question, Vujičić replied that he personally carried the document in question from CB Podgorica to the prosecutor’s office in an Astra vehicle, registration number PG HT895, and that he was alone in the vehicle and no one was with him. He replied that a person was in front of the prosecutor’s office when he arrived at the prosecutor’s office, and that there was no one near that person. To the defense counsel’s question, Vujičić replied that he entered the prosecutor’s office at the main entrance when he was handing over the mentioned supporting document from the CB to the prosecutor’s office. On that occasion, he did not notice that any Astra vehicle was parked in front, which was similar to the vehicle he was driving. He added that there was no one in the building except the porter on the application form, and that there were no vehicles in front. Vujičić added that the accused criminal inspectors worked in the same station, but in different units, that there was no black Astra in the entire criminal police department and that the accused did not owe it. He replied that he did not ask his superior Korac too much about this person, around whom he was carrying an accompanying document.
When asked by the defendant Nemanja Vujošević if he had noticed any of the defendants in the corridor or premises of CB Podgorica, Vujičić said that he did not find the defendants when he came to the CB, neither in the corridor nor in the offices, and he remembers that there were some inspectors for family offenses in the second part. He clarified that when he said that he did not see any of the defendants, he meant that he stayed there for a long time, and that all the offices are often open and that he did not see anyone. He also explained that he saw Srđan Korac when he came to work and did not see him after that. When asked by the prosecutor, he replied that he did not know if any of the managers drove a black Opel Astra for a long time.
When asked by the court, he stated that on the day in question, Srđan Korać told him to draw up a supporting document, and that the document could be signed by either Korać or an elder who was there at that moment or someone else from the inspector, it depends who is there. I was also told that the case handler can sign the accompanying deed on behalf of Korać, but that he does not remember who signed the deed in question. He stated that he cannot remember exactly from which direction he came when he came to the prosecution office, that is, where he was while he was waiting for Korać’s call to bring the documents to the prosecution office, and that he cannot say with certainty whether he came directly to the prosecution office from the Podgorica Security Center. He added that he knows what Marko Boljević looks like and that the person who was in front of the prosecutor’s office was Marko Boljević, and that he recognized him when he brought this supporting document. He also replied that the person and the object are driven together only if he is detained, and that then they are driven by a special vehicle “Marica”.
Vujičić also stated that he did not meet Marko Boljević in the CB in the corridor or in the rooms used by his colleagues, and that he cannot remember with certainty to whom he handed the document, whether it was to the clerk or to the prosecutor, and he cannot say exactly where the prosecutor’s office is located Vuksanovic. He added that he was in civilian clothes and that he did not answer Marko Boljević, nor Marko to him, and that Marko must have seen him on that occasion. He pointed out that he worked at CB for three years and that he never heard any of his colleagues playing music in the office.
The continuation of the trial is scheduled for November 30, 2023, when the hearing of the only remaining witness in this proceeding, Miloš Vučinić, is scheduled.
The Civic Alliance will continue to actively monitor this and other trials for torture cases, within the project “Without impunity for violation and violation of human rights in Montenegro”, with the support of the Delegation of the European Union in Montenegro.
