Katnić: Šoškić has no evidence, so he is trying to compensate by creating illusions

Special Prosecutor Miloš Šoškić has no evidence and is attempting to make up for that by creating illusions, former Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnić said during a hearing before the High Court in Podgorica in the proceedings against him, former senior police official Zoran Lazović and suspended prosecutor Saša Čađenović.

At today's hearing, the court continued reviewing documentary evidence. Prosecutor Šoškić spent nearly an hour reading the reasoning behind the dismissal of a criminal complaint against Zoran Lazović and others, including statements collected from individuals in their capacity as citizens, in connection with the lifting of the entry ban to Montenegro for Serbian nationals Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković. The case was handled by Prosecutor Sanja Jovićević, who dismissed the criminal complaint.

Katnić argued that Lazović's statement, given in his capacity as a citizen, should have been excluded from the case file at the prosecutor's request.

- Statements given in the capacity of a citizen are a textbook example because the person giving such a statement is not informed of their rights and obligations. Those statements should have been excluded at the prosecutor's request after the investigation was completed and during the indictment confirmation stage. What is unbelievable is that today part of Zoran Lazović's statement, given in his capacity as a citizen, was quoted, followed by statements given in the same capacity by Enis Baković, the former Assistant Director of the Police Administration. This is despite the fact that Baković has already testified before the trial panel and, incidentally, said the opposite of what he had stated as a citizen. Lazović has also testified before the court, so this earlier statement could not be used in these proceedings even if it had been given in this case, let alone in another one - Katnić said.

He recalled that the indictment accuses him of influencing Prosecutor Jovićević, insisting that this allegation is false.

- The prosecutor claims, as evidence for this theory, that I influenced the case by carrying out evidentiary actions, by which he means drafting official correspondence and sending it to the competent authorities. That is simply not true. Prosecutor Jovićević confirmed during her testimony that I neither drafted nor forwarded any of the documents contained in the case file. She stated that the documents were sent by her adviser, Damir Kujović, who marked them with the initials „DK/DK“ - the former Chief Special Prosecutor said.

Katnić added that Jovićević had made it clear that he neither influenced her nor showed any particular interest in the case.

- These were not evidentiary actions, nor are these documents considered evidence. The most important point is what Sanja Jovićević told the trial panel: based on the evidence she had at the time, she would have reached the same decision, and no one influenced her. She made her decision on the basis of her prosecutorial judgment and the case file. The Supreme State Prosecutor's Office also rejected the complaint as unfounded - Katnić said.

He further noted that the case file contains documents showing that the procedure used to lift the entry ban for Belivuk and Miljković was the same procedure used in response to Prosecutor Jovićević's request for information.

- The Information Technology Sector submitted a report, signed by an official of the Ministry of the Interior, stating that between January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2021, a total of 760 operational entry bans were entered into the system. During that same period, 49 of those measures were lifted using the same procedure that was applied in the cases of Belivuk and Miljković - Katnić explained.

He said he had done everything within his power to ensure that the case was examined thoroughly and beyond dispute, while fully respecting the independence of the prosecutor handling the matter.

- The prosecutor has no evidence, so he is trying to compensate by creating illusions - Katnić stressed.

Suspended prosecutor Saša Čađenović rejected allegations that he had protected Zoran Lazović, emphasizing that he was not the prosecutor responsible for handling the criminal complaint in question. He also denied concealing SKY communications, stating that he had provided Prosecutor Jovićević with the complete case file, including the criminal complaint, which recorded that a CD containing the SKY communications had been submitted as an attachment.