The proceedings are being conducted by Judge Simo Rašović and the indictment is being represented by Special Prosecutor Jovan Vukotić.
The hearing continued with questions being asked of the accused Dejan Knežević. Knežević told the court today that he would still answer questions from prosecutor Jovan Vukotić so that it would not appear that he could not answer a question.
When asked by lawyer Borivoje Borović, the accused Dejan Knežević said that he had never received information, either verbally or in writing, about Petar Lazović's incriminating actions and added: "Because if I had, I would have cut off communication with him and taken all measures and actions."
"When asked by the prosecutor what SKY Live is, I emphasize that we are returning to something that should have been clarified three or four years ago; I would not be in the situation I am in today," Knežević added and explained:
"SKY live means that Europol had SKY in real time. For reasons of urgency, they were giving us data. Based on this real-time data from the SKY platform, we opened an MTN through SDT in order to prevent two murders and an attack on a judge, after which the suspects were prosecuted."
"SKY live means that Europol monitored the communication live and informed us via electronic communication if there was anything interesting for us. So they informed us during our operation to prevent the murder of Šaković that the people we were working with had noticed police vehicles, told us where their apartments were for observation, and the like," explained Knežević.
He added that during the notification, there was information from Europol that the alleged users of the SKY messages were Radoje Zvicer, Milan Vujotić...
"They gave us the names of 10, 15 people. I did not participate in identifying those people," Knežević pointed out in response to a question from the prosecutor.
Then the prosecutor asked him: Was Petar Lazović among those 15 people a SKY user?
"We did not receive information during that period that Petar Lazović was using SKY," Knežević replied.
When asked by the prosecutor, he said that he could not remember whether anyone gave him a note or a snippet of processed SKY and added: "I did not give out SKY data to anyone."
"I had professional communication with Ljubo Milović, as I had with other colleagues. There was no hidden communication. I think I communicated with prosecutor Jovan Vukotić more than with Milović. With Milović maybe three times a year. I cannot remember if I mentioned Milovan Pavićević in any communication with Ljubo Milović. I would like the prosecutor to tell me what is incriminating in that. It is like asking me what I think about the head of the SPO Predrag Šuković today. It is completely irrelevant to these proceedings," said Knežević in response to one of the prosecutor's questions.
Knežević then answered the prosecutor's question about who told him that Petar Lazović used SKY.
"I can't remember exactly when I received the information that Petar Lazović had a PIN. It was possible that it was at the end of 2022, I received that information from prosecutor Vladimir Novović, that was when the arrest of Ljubo Milović and Petar Lazović was being prepared and when the Europol report was published in the media," said Knežević.
When asked by the prosecutor, he said that he did not remember exactly what Ljubo Milović told him seven years ago about the ship Budva, but that it was important to him that this information, after verification and work, proved to be correct and that the operation was successfully carried out.
"Ljubo Milović was a credible colleague. Most of the time, our bosses from Boka referred us to him as a person who had operational data. He provided quality information that was implemented," said Knežević when asked by lawyer Ranko Radulović about Ljubo Milović.
Knežević said that prosecutor Jovan Vukotić refused to approve his polygraph test, but Aleksandar Bošković was approved for the polygraph when it was supposed to check whether Knežević had influenced him.
"When it's in my interest, they don't give me a polygraph," added Knežević.
As a reminder, the indictment of the Special Prosecutor's Office includes Ljubo Milović, Milo Božović, Dejan Knežević, Radoje Zvicer, Ivan Stamatović, Nebojša Bugarin, Petar Lazović, Milan Popović, Miloš Mišurović, Marko Novaković, Ivan Nikolić, Goran Stojanović, Božidar Jabučanin, Aleksandar Keković, Vladimir Bajčeta, Tihomir Adžić, Filip Zindović (whose last name was previously Kljajević), Darko Knežević, Ivan Mijatović and Dražen Milović.
The investigation states:
According to earlier information from the prosecution, some of the defendants in this case are charged with multiple criminal offenses.
"Lj. M., MO, IS, NB, PL, MP, BJ, MM, AK, VB, GS, DM, FZ, IN, TA, MN, DK, MB, for the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization, against Lj. M., MO, IS, NB, PL, MP, BJ, MM, AK, VB, MN, RZ, DM, FZ, MB and IM, for the criminal offense of unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotic drugs - about 4 t 300 kg of cocaine, against Lj. M., IS, MO, BJ and MN, for the criminal offense of money laundering - about seven million euros, against MM, AK and Lj. M., for the criminal offense of causing general danger and illegal possession of weapons and explosives, against DK, for the criminal offense of disclosing classified information and against DK, for the criminal offense of abuse of official position, was committed in the period from 2019 to February 2021, in Montenegro, but also in certain countries in Europe and South America," he announced. was previously special state prosecutor Vukas Radonjić.
