N17.T3 – Vesna Medenica placed in detention after weeks of procedural back-and-forth between the Court of Appeal and the High Court
HRA NEWSLETTER 17 – TOPIC 3
Convicted former President of the Supreme Court Vesna Medenica was arrested in Kolašin and placed in detention after the Court accepted an appeal by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office and overturned a previous decision imposing only a supervisory measure prohibiting her from leaving her place of residence.
The Court of Appeal had previously upheld the appeal of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office against an earlier decision of the High Court in Podgorica concerning the supervisory measure. The High Court subsequently issued a new ruling ordering Medenica’s detention due to the risk of flight.
The decision followed several weeks of procedural “ping-pong” between the Court of Appeal and the High Court, involving multiple returns of the case file.
The Special State Prosecutor’s Office appealed the High Court’s decision which, following the first-instance judgment sentencing Medenica to ten years in prison, imposed only a prohibition on leaving her place of residence and confiscated her travel documents instead of ordering detention.
The Court of Appeal repeatedly pointed to procedural shortcomings and returned the case for correction, primarily because one of the defence lawyers, attorney Zdenko Tomanović, had not been properly notified of the decision.
The High Court stated that the defence was obstructing the proceedings by insisting that documents be delivered exclusively by regular mail rather than electronically, while the Court of Appeal stressed that conditions for deciding on the merits could only be met once proper service had been effected on all parties.
As a result, the appeal procedure was delayed for nearly a month.
It should be recalled that in January a panel of the High Court in Podgorica, chaired by judge Vesna Kovačević, sentenced Medenica to ten years in prison.
She was convicted of two criminal offences of unlawful influence through mediation involving the acceptance of a promise of a bribe for the benefit of her son, as well as two additional offences related to mediation through the misuse of official position.
After her arrest, Medenica published an open letter claiming that she had been convicted without evidence, that the judgment had been predetermined, and that politicians had influenced the outcome with the assistance of the media.
In the letter she made serious allegations against Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović, Special Prosecutor Vukas Radonjić, and High Court judge Vesna Kovačević, claiming that they had acted with bias and under external influence. She also sent a message to her son, who is currently on the run, urging him not to surrender.
Judge Kovačević and the Special State Prosecutor’s Office rejected the allegations.
Kovačević denied claims that she had been blackmailed or subjected to any form of pressure, rejected allegations of personal connections involving her husband, and called on Novović to publicly release any compromising material if such evidence exists.
The Special State Prosecutor’s Office also rejected what it described as false allegations in Medenica’s open letter. The Special State Prosecutor’s Office stated that accusations against Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović—including alleged criminal acts, personal connections, influence over judges, and the conduct of the proceedings against Medenica—were untrue.
They also denied claims regarding the unlawful formation of the prosecutorial team, alleged pressure on the court, and the leaking of private correspondence to the media. The Special State Prosecutor’s Office further rejected allegations that Special Prosecutor Vukas Radonjić had connections with the accused and noted that he had been acquitted in a final misdemeanor proceeding related to earlier allegations of domestic violence.
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