The trial of those accused of wounding journalist Olivera Lakić and murdering Miodrag-Migi Kruščić was once again postponed today, for the fifth time in a row, at the High Court in Podgorica.
According to Libertas Press, the main hearing was initially delayed by an hour and 10 minutes because a member of the three-judge panel presiding over the case, Judge Sanja Čakanović, was occupied with another criminal case.
The presiding judge, Igor Đuričković, then noted that defense attorney Marko Radović, who represents the accused Goran Rakočević and Dejan Vukašinović, did not attend today’s trial.
“Radović informed the court earlier today that he could not attend due to illness. He requested the postponing of today’s main hearing and promised to provide medical documentation later,” said Đuričković.
He then asked the defendant Vukašinović if he agreed with his attorney’s request.
“I agree,” Vukašinović replied.
When Judge Đuričković mentioned that Radović is going be fined for not providing documentation to justify his absence, the defendant changed his response.
“In that case, let today’s hearing proceed without him,” Vukašinović said.
Attorney Miloš Vuksanović reacted by claiming that Radović had informed him this morning that “he couldn’t get out of bed.”
“Viruses are going around. Radović was considering until this morning whether he could attend. I can show you our correspondence to prove he is genuinely ill,” Vuksanović stated.
Before the court accepted the request to postpone the trial to March 6, Olivera Lakić’s representative, attorney Dalibor Tomović, requested that the court allow audio-visual recording of the defendants’ statements at that hearing.
All parties in the proceedings agreed with this proposal, including defense attorneys, the accused, and special prosecutor Nataša Bošković, who filed the indictment against them.
It was explained today that recording the statements would speed up the process by eliminating the need to transcribe the defendants’ statements into the official record.
The indictment, filed by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office on December 7, 2023, includes not only Rakočević and Vukašinović but also high-ranking member of the Kavac criminal clan Milan Vujotić, Mario Milošević, former police officer Darko Lalović, Filip Knežević, Veselin Bubanja, Filip Bešović, Luka Bulatović, Goran Vukčević, Branislav Karadžić, Mijajlo Stojanović, Aleksandar Ljumović, and Sanja Božović.
Filip Knežević, who is on the run, is accused of shooting Olivera Lakić on May 8, 2018, in front of the entrance to the building in Podgorica where she lives. She was wounded in the leg.
Mario Milošević, a fellow Podgorican, is identified as the direct perpetrator of Miodrag Kruščić’s murder.
He is suspected of killing Kruščić on May 21, 2018, while he was sitting in a café at the Stari Aerodrom neighborhood in Podgorica.
Among other 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 Special Prosecutor Vukas Radonjić.
Source: Libertas Press