The council of Podgorica High Court will schedule a hearing on approval of Special State Prosecutor’s Office’s (SDT) indictment by 28 April. SDT submitted indictments against Democratic Front (DF) leaders Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic and 12 accomplices, suspecting them of creating a criminal organisation that was planning a terrorist attack in Montenegro on 16 October last year.
120 page indictment
The indictment, which was written in as many as 120 pages, has been randomly assigned to judge Suzana Mugosa.
As Dnevne Novine reported yesterday, in addition to the DF leaders, the indictment also includes their driver Mihailo Cadjenovic, former commander of the Serbian Gendarmerie Bratislav Dikic, Branka Milic, Dragan Maksic, Srboljub Djordjevic, Milan Dusic, Kristina Hristic, Russian nationals Vladimir Popov and Eduard Shshmakov, as well as Serbian citizens Predrag Bogicevic, Nemanja Ristic and Milos Jovanovic.
The investigation included nine more people who signed plea bargains in the meantime.
According to the indictment, the criminal group was formed by two Russian agents Eduard Shirokov (Shishmakov) and Vladimir Popov in order to topple the government by force using weapons. In addition to creating a criminal organisation, they are also charged with the crime of “terrorism attempt“.
In the group that was active in Montenegro, Serbia and Russia, DF leader Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic played important roles.
Mandic and Knezevic’s role
Upon the instructions of the organisers, Mandic allegedly recruited people who were willing to participate in the preparation and execution of mass protests and seizing control of the Parliament building.
According to the SDT document, Mandic was in charge of “conveying instructions and orders of the organizers to the members of the criminal organisation, providing official vehicles to transport members of the organisation and to recruit members of the criminal group… One of the DF leader’s responsibilities was also to organise protest rallies in front of the Parliament building, which were to be used for executing the criminal plan and breaching into the Parliament. As stated in the order, Mandic was supposed to “perform other tasks the organisers assigned to him”.
The suspect Milan Knezevic did not have so many responsibilities as Mandic. According to SDT, he was responsible for communication between members of the criminal organization and exchanging messages with other members who were abroad.
SDT claims that Knezevic was also in charge of organising protest rallies in front of the Parliament, “which were to be used for executing the criminal plan and breaching into the Parliament and performing other duties and tasks the organisers tasked him with”.
According to the investigation findings, Shishmakov and Popov set up groups in the territory of Montenegro, Serbia and Russia with the aim of “carrying out an unspecified number of criminal acts of terrorism” and criminal acts of “assassinating the highest ranking representatives of Montenegro”.
Predrag Bogicevic and Nemanja Ristic were in charge of recruiting members of the criminal group in Serbia. The two of them were supposed to organise their arrival to DF rally and “along with politicians of that party gathered at the rally to cause conflicts with police officers and forcibly enter the Parliament, where they were expected to stay at least 48 hours and declare DF and other opposing parties’ elections victory”.
SDT required Serbian authorities to extradite Ristic and Bogicevic to Montenegro, but the request has been rejected.
In the meantime, Mirko Velimirovic, the key man for exposing the operation, has received a suspended sentence in the meantime, whereas Sasa Sindjelic has been granted cooperative witness status.
SDT has also made plea bargains with Nikola Djuric, Sinisa Cetkovic, Aleksandar Curovic, Dejan Stanojevic and Ivica Matic. They have agreed to spend five months in prison each.
Serbian citizens Aleksandar Aleksic, Milos Acimovic and Perica Andric admitted they were members of the criminal organisation in High Court on 17 February. According to their statements, the plan was to forcibly enter the Parliament building and await further orders in the case DF lost the elections.
They were sentenced to five months in prison for the criminal offense of creating a criminal organisation.
SDT to attend Shishmakov and Popov’s questioning
SDT requested Russia’s authorities to question Russian nationals Eduard Shishmakov and Vladimir Popov in that country in the presence of Montenegrin prosecutors. Justice minister Zoran Pazin said yesterday that they hadn’t received response yet.
Pazin did not want to comment on SDT’s indictment.
“The court is to provide the answer. Any comment of this kind would be inappropriate,” said Pazin. Asked by reporters if he expected obstructions from DF, Pazin said that he “left the matter to judicial authorities, who would be able to handle potential obstructions”.
Indictment against Nikic when he becomes available
The SDT’s indictment does not include Ananije Nikic, DFs’ translator/interpreter for Russian, who is currently in extradition custody in Russia.
According to SDT, indictment against Nikic will be raised when he becomes available to Montenegrin investigative authorities. At this point, it is not known whether Moscow would extradite Nikic.
Nikic is regarded as one of the main suspects for the creation of a criminal organisation, which is why he has been arrested in Russia upon Interpol’s notice.
