“It’s true that I am the V.M. mentioned in the transcript of conversations published by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT), and it is true that I was asked for a certain case and that I was required to find a person who would say, for a money reward, that he had allegedly bribed the chief special prosecutor Milivoje Kantic in order to provide him better position in one court case. So everything Dnevne Novine wrote yesterday is true. However, I have accepted this interview to tell the rest of the story about this and other cases in which I was mentioned.”
This is how Dnevne Novine began yesterday’s interview with Veselin Mujovic, after learning that he had been mentioned in the transcripts published on 17 July. The transcripts reveal that a special war is being waged against prosecutor Katnic and that there is an informal investigation aimed at finding details that would discredit him.
DN: So, you are the V.M. The transcripts say that P.B. (Predrag Bulatovic) asked for a certain case. What is that about?
MUJOVIC: This is a case concerning a person from Niksic, who was suspicious to somebody for some reason. And I gave them the case files. They wanted to check something, and I was offered to find that person. I was supposed to ask him if he would say, for a money reward, that he had bribed Katnic to mediate in reaching the most favourable court decision in that case. But I did not accept that.
DN: From the published transcripts, one gets the impression that you were in good relations with Andrija Mandic and Bulatovic. Did they ask you for other favours?
MUJOVIC: I would not say that I am in good or bad relations with them. It is true that they asked me to sort the information they receive, given that there are a lot of false pieces of information. I did not accept that either.
DN: Why did not you accept? As far as we know, you do not work anywhere…
MUJOVIC: Well, for several reasons, but the crucial thing was the conversation in which I heard that they mentioned the special prosecutor’s house in Novo Selo. They know what it was like before and what it’s like now. So, it was clear to me that this house, or its owner, was under surveillance, and this was not done straight out of nothing. Later I learned that the strongest group of criminals in the Balkans, perhaps even in Europe, were watching over Katnić’s movement. Those were Legija’s men and they do not track anyone just like that. When I considered all that, I withdrew and decided not to meet DF members. They have not called me lately.
DN: Where did you meet DF leaders? Were you under surveillance?
MUJOVIC: We met twice in the “G” coffee shop in the Moskovska street. That is a place where a group of honest people, of different political options gather to exchange views. They do not have much money. They come to hang out there. I often go there. One day I met Bulatovic and Mandic n the coffee shop. At one point Bulatovic mentioned Katnić’s house, saying that it used to be small but that it was big now. When I heard it, I could not take that indifferently. How do they know what the house was like and what it is like now, what its fence is like…? It means somebody was going there and keeping surveillance on it. Having in mind that the media wrote that Katnic was being threatened, and since I also obtained information in the meantime that former Legija’s men were in Montenegro, I was scared that something bad could happen to someone.
I don’t know whether someone was under secret surveillance and who was that. Only special prosecutor has the answer to that question. I know that Bulatovic had a phone. But I have no idea whether he was watched over or eavesdropped.
DN: Were those your only meetings with DF leaders?
MUJOVIC: No. I also met with them in the Hercegovacka street, in the premises of New Serb Democracy, in Andrija Mandic’s office. Then we talked about the indictment in the state coup case. They told me they allegedly had a lot of pieces of evidence against Katnic. They spoke about him only in a negative context. Then I told them that he was an honest man and an excellent lawyer, and that they could not discredit him, seeking legal errors and accusing him of immorality.
DN: But, DF is accusing him exactly of that, ie trying to discredit him both as a lawyer and a man…
MUJOVIC: I know all that, but it does not matter what they are saying, but whether they have something (evidence) against him. The fact is that they are intensively collecting information, but they are also sceptical about what they are getting. If they did not doubt, they would not ask me to sort their pieces of information, which I did not accept.
DN: Do you know who in Democratic Front is investigating Katnic?
MUJOVIC: Nebojsa Medojevic is in charge of that. He is focused on Croatia. They are looking for some Julka, a woman who would say that she was allegedly raped by the special prosecutor 25 years ago. Croatia is the main spot for the investigation. They told me about one man from Croatia. Medojevic was supposed visit him and that person was supposed to say that Katnic had tortured him and taken his money. When I saw that the special prosecutor of Croatia said that there had been no case in that matter, I realised that they wanted to make a fool of me.
DN: The trial in which you are accused of trying to take money from Svetozar Marovic is to be continued in September. How will your story end?
MUJOVIC: There is no basis for my responsibility. You will see everything in September. Then I will say a lot of things that will surprise the Montenegrin public. I have to defend myself and my family in a legal way. I have material evidence to defend myself with my young attorney Momcilo Vuksanovic.
DN: How did you find yourself in the middle of the Budva affair?
MUJOVIC: Marovic accused me. I have been charged with organising a criminal group to racket Svetozar Marovic and I spent 13 months in Spuz prison. The problem was that my witnesses were not in Montenegro, but in Slovenia and Italy, and they were questioned too late – only after a year.
How did I come into contact with Marovic?
A London-based company, owned by famous Olivera Ilincic, asked me to settle the dispute between her and Sveto (Svetozar Marovic) related to a plot near the Splendid hotel. I did that and managed to solve it. When I finished it, then Sveto asked me to solve his problem with Olivera Ilincic because she owed €12.5m to him from some money transactions related to the purchase and sale of some land. Working on this case, I saw the documentation that I immediately found suspicious. Searching through the papers, I saw that it was a huge robbery, the biggest in Montenegro, and I personally reported it to SDT.
DN: What about money that Marovic accuses you for?
MUJOVIC: That’s a false accusation. I received €13,500 from Marovic for the cost of transferring the money to Italy. I have carried the money three times, about €550,000 in total, to cover the investigation of Marović’s accounts at the Swiss bank. In the first occasion I carried money to a town between Vincenza and Verona. Some lawyers were waiting for me there, as did my friend who was translating. The money was then taken to Switzerland. For all this I got €13,500 for my expenses. I can say that Marovic did not give me that money, because there were no witnesses, but I say that he gave it to me, because that’s the way it was. I know that these two lawyers from Italy later made statements before a special prosecutor.
DN: After this conversation you will probably be the target of DF and other opposition political subjects who are criticising Katnic and trying to discredit him…
MUJOVIC: It is better to those from the opposition who are boasting with their honesty to back off, because I can present proofs that they took money to vote for something. Those are all high-ranking officials from different political opposition structures. They will recognise themselves. That’s why Veselin Mujovic is bothering them, because he is an inconvenient witness.
