N9.T5 – MEDICAL EXPERT STATES VESNA MEDENICA CAN FOLLOW TRIAL WITH PAUSES
HRA NEWSLETTER 9 – TOPIC 5
The process against the former President of the Supreme Court, Vesna Medenica, and other accused is proceeding rapidly before the High Court in Podgorica. Seven hearings were held in June.
As a reminder, Miloš Medenica, son of Vesna Medenica, is accused of creating a criminal organization in 2019, whose members allegedly included his mother and other defendants, with the aim of cigarette smuggling and unlawful influence on the judiciary, to gain illegal profit and power. The Special State Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against him, his mother, Darko Lalović, Vasilije Petrović, Bojan and Marko Popović, Marko Vučinić, Milorad Medenica, Luka Bakoč, Petar Milutinović, Ivana Kovačević, Radomir Raičević, Marjan Bevenja, Stevo Karanikić, Goran Jovanović, and the company Kopad Company for criminal offenses including: formation of a criminal organization, smuggling, giving and accepting bribes, unlawful influence and inducement to unlawful influence, abuse of official position, drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons, infliction of serious bodily injury, and obstruction of evidence.
On June 2nd, accused Luka Bakoč was heard and denied the charges. He spoke about his relationship with Filip Đorđević, who, according to him, proposed the founding of Kopad Company. Petar Cerović also appeared at the hearing, testifying about his relationship with accused Vasilije Petrović.
The next day, the trial continued with witness testimonies. Milija Vukanić, former head of the Security Department in Kolašin, denied having contact with Vesna Medenica, as alleged by police officers Mladen Bošković and Predrag Rakočević. He stated that he communicated with her only twice, and that was in a professional capacity since she was a protected person. He confirmed that he met with Miloš Medenica, accused of organizing the criminal group, two or three times.
The former police chief in Kolašin told the panel presided by Judge Vesna Kovačević that he was not afraid of the former Supreme Court leader and denied claims that she dismissed or employed him.
After Vukanić’s testimony, Vesna Medenica’s defense attorney, Zdravko Begović, stated that it was confirmed that police officers Mladen Bošković and Predrag Rakočević gave a coordinated testimony intended to discredit Vesna Medenica and her son Miloš.
In addition to Vukanić, witness Zoran Đurović testified before the court. His attorney, Miloš Vuksanović, stated that Đurović’s questioning by the Special Police Department and the Special Prosecutor’s Office was an attempt at “witness intimidation using levers of power” to make him provide testimony favorable to the prosecution.
On June 4th, the trial resumed with the testimony of Filip Đurović, who stated he was not involved in cigarette smuggling and did not participate in founding Kopad Company, contrary to what accused Luka Bakoč said two days earlier.
On June 5th, Vesna Medenica’s lawyer, Zdravko Begović, submitted her medical documentation to the court and requested that hearings not last for five hours. Vesna Medenica later informed the court panel that due to back problems, she was unable to follow lengthy court proceedings.
“I know my presence here is important, but I want my documentation to be examined. I cannot sit in court for five hours and risk having to undergo another surgery,” Vesna Medenica’s statement was reported by Vijesti.
The following day, June 6th, the medical expert Nemanja Radojević’s report was read. He stated that Vesna Medenica is able to follow the main trial but requires 15-minute breaks every 45 minutes. He also confirmed that the court should provide her with better seating.
Medenica’s attorney, Zdravko Begović, was not satisfied with Radojević’s findings, saying the report was made without any medical empathy. He requested that the expert attend one of the upcoming hearings.
Although a new hearing was scheduled for June 16th, it was postponed due to the absence of the accused Vojin Perunović.
The trial resumed on June 17th with the reading of written evidence. Among the documents read were waybills, cigarette shipment papers, delivery notes, and customs documents.
On June 19th, the trial featured a dispute between Medenica’s defense attorney, Zdravko Begović, and special prosecutor Jovan Vukotić. Begović claimed that contents of Medenica’s mobile phone were manipulated at the premises of the Special Police Department, and that prosecutor Vukotić confirmed this. Vukotić, on the other hand, stated that only Vesna Medenica could have deleted the applications on the phone, as she was the only one with the password to the device.
The former head of the Montenegrin judiciary stated she filed a criminal complaint with the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office against an unknown person for hacking her device and alleged abuse of official position due to the alleged manipulation of her phone’s contents.
A hearing was scheduled for June 20th in the second case against Vesna Medenica and Commercial Court judge Milica Vlahović-Milosavljević. However, the main hearing before the High Court in Podgorica was not held because Medenica had a scheduled MRI scan. The Special State Prosecutor’s Office charged Vesna Medenica in this case with instigating judge Vlahović-Milosavljević to abuse her official position by preventing the collection of a debt owed to Medenica’s godfather Rado Arsić (who has since been suspected of tax and contribution evasion and causing damage to the state budget). Vlahović-Milosavljević admitted to doing this but explained in court that she acted according to the law, not under pressure from Vesna Medenica, as she initially stated.
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