PODGORICA, January 31, 2025 – The trial of the defendants for the wounding of journalist Olivera Lakić and the murder of Miodrag-Migi Kruščić in May 2018 has once again been postponed today, for the second consecutive time, at the Higher Court in Podgorica.
The reason for the delay is the request from defendants Mario Milošević and Goran Rakočević, who asked for Judge Igor Đuričković to be excluded from the case.
“I have information that Judge Đuričković requested to be excluded from the case for the murder of Radomir Đuričković, in which I am accused. I believe that the reasons for exclusion still exist, and that is why I request that he be excluded from this case as well,” said Milošević today in the courtroom, who is accused of killing Miodrag Kruščić in Podgorica.
Judge Đuričković explained that he had asked for exclusion because the deceased was his namesake.
“All Đuričkovićs come from the same place, and we are all somewhat related. I did not know the victim, but we probably met at some family events,” said Judge Đuričković, explaining the reasons for his request for exclusion.
Milošević’s proposal was then joined by his “co-defendant” Goran Rakočević.
“I am also being tried in a case with a Đuričković,” he said.
“But that is about vehicles, not murder,” Judge Đuričković responded.
However, Rakočević did not give up.
“Give us a judge who has not judged us before. Let this trial be fair and start. This journalist’s life is in danger,” said Rakočević, referring to Olivera Lakić.
No one in the courtroom reacted to his statement that, as he said, “the journalist’s life is in danger”—not the members of the court council, headed by Đuričković, nor the special prosecutor Nataša Bošković.
“Look at what is happening to journalists,” Rakočević continued.
Judge Đuričković then said that he would forward his and Milošević’s request for exclusion to the President of the Higher Court in Podgorica, Zoran Radović, who will decide on it.
The continuation of the trial, which was attended today by a representative of the Media Union of Montenegro, is scheduled for February 10.
The indictment, filed by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office on December 7, 2023, includes high-ranking members of the Kavač criminal clan Milan Vujotić, former police officer Darko Lalović, Filip Knežević, Mario Milošević, Goran Rakočević, Veselin Bubanja, Filip Bešović, Luka Bulatović, Dejan Vukašinović, Branislav Karadžić, Goran Vukčević, Mijajlo Stojanović, Aleksandar Ljumović, and Sanja Božović.
Filip Knežević, who is on the run, is accused of shooting at Olivera Lakić on May 8, 2018, in front of the building entrance in Podgorica where she lives. She was wounded in the leg.
Mario Milošević is accused as the direct perpetrator of the murder of Podgorica resident Miodrag Kruščić, who was killed on May 21, 2018, while sitting in a café on Stari Aerodrom in Podgorica.
In addition to these charges, the defendants are also accused of smuggling 554 kilograms of marijuana from Albania to Montenegro on January 26, 2021, as previously stated by the SDT spokesperson, Special Prosecutor Vukas Radonjić.
Source: Libertas press