A criminal complaint has been filed against the judges who issued an acquittal verdict in the case of the murder of Ćuruvija for altering the records.

Today, lawyer Vladimir Todorić filed a criminal complaint with the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office against judges of the Appellate Court in Belgrade Vesna Petrović, Nada Hadži-Perić, Dragana Ćesarović, Marko Jocić, and Dušanka Đorđević, claiming that in reaching a unanimous court decision, they inaccurately and falsely conveyed the content of the minutes from the main hearing in the reasoning of the judgment.

“The accused judges intentionally altered the established factual situation in the proceedings in order to acquit the defendants by disqualifying the testimonies of a number of witnesses, falsely depicting that the witnesses deviated from their earlier statements, which they did not do, and falsely stating that they withheld answers to questions from the court, the defense, and the prosecution. They also falsely conveyed the sources of knowledge from witnesses DD and ĐĐ as being hearsay, while they were direct witnesses,” states the reasoning of the criminal complaint, in which Todorić also refers to the judgment of the Supreme Court in Belgrade.

In an interview with Cenzolovka, Todorić stated that the Supreme Court established the fact that the minutes had been altered and that what was written in the judgment of the Appellate Court contradicts the records of the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime, the first-instance court, and the audio recordings and transcripts from those recordings.

“This means that these judges, by a unanimous decision, changed the content of those minutes, diametrically opposed to their meaning. This is an unprecedented audacity, what has been done, to alter the contents of the minutes in order to reach an acquittal,” said Todorić to Cenzolovka.

He noted that about ten minutes had been altered in a way that was diametrically opposed, exclusively in favor of the defendants.

What does the Supreme Court say about the minutes?

Specifically, the Supreme Court in Belgrade issued a ruling stating that a significant violation of the provisions of the criminal procedure was made in favor of the accused former officials and members of the State Security Service: Radomir Marković, Milan Radonjić, Miroslav Kurak, and Ratko Romić, who were acquitted by the Appellate Court, thereby overturning the convicting judgment of the first-instance court.

The Supreme Court determined that key evidence provided by witnesses in the murder case of Ćuruvija was not properly considered before a new judgment was rendered, which, according to the court's view, went in favor of the defendants.

“The second-instance court made a significant violation of the provisions of the criminal procedure as per Article 438, paragraph 2, point 2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which made it impossible to examine the legality and correctness of the second-instance judgment regarding the decisive facts arising from the testimonies of witnesses BB, VV, GG, DD, and ĐĐ, as there is a significant contradiction between what is stated about the decisive facts that are subject to proof in the reasoning of the judgment regarding the contents of the minutes of the testimonies of the named witnesses, and those very minutes,” states the judgment of the Supreme Court.

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EVERYTHING IS BEING DIScredited

“If we do not have an independent, professional, and autonomous judiciary, then my role as a lawyer, let alone as a citizen, is non-existent. I would have no rights before the court; everything would boil down to connections, who knows whom, what can finish a deal with a judge, and so on. Then everything becomes meaningless,” said Todorić, adding:

“And whether my criminal complaint will make sense for this system is now up to the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office. I have done what I believe I should do, primarily for the sake of self-respect, for respecting myself and my profession.”

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Any alteration of the minutes is a criminal offense

“Without the actions of the accused judges, the defendants in the proceedings would not have been acquitted because these are crucial pieces of evidence for establishing the factual situation; these pieces of evidence were evaluated in the first-instance proceedings and, as a result, they were logically convicted,” states Todorić in the criminal complaint.

He suggests that the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office interview the court clerk and the senior judicial advisor and conduct a review of the files, audio recordings, and transcripts. Additionally, when comparing the files with the minutes before the first-instance court, if necessary, they should also compare them with the minutes held by the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime and the attorneys of the injured parties, as he does not rule out the possibility of the minutes being falsified.

Todorić states that any alteration of the content of the minutes is a criminal offense, but if judges do it solely for the benefit of the defendants, it constitutes a violation of the law. “Even the Constitution states this,” he emphasizes.

He reminds that this judgment of the Appellate Court resulted in expenses of 10 million dinars, which the accused collected after the acquittal. The prescribed penalty for his criminal complaint is from two to 12 years in prison, hence in this case, judicial immunity is not foreseen.

The lawyer adds that the Law on Judges states that a judge cannot be held accountable for expressing an opinion or for voting in the decision-making process, except for the criminal offense of “violation of the law by judges.”

“For this criminal offense, there is even no immunity,” says Todorić.

He adds that in our country, no judge has ever been convicted for this criminal offense because prior to the judiciary reform, cases were not pursued individually as they are now.

“Well, here’s an example of an individual case to see what will happen,” says Todorić and concludes that the matter is quite clear; the establishment of facts is the responsibility of the Prosecutor's Office, and it is possible to reach a decision on sanctions in a shorter procedure.

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ĆURUVIA FOUNDATION: AFTER ALL, THREE COMPLETELY CONTRADICTORY VERDICTS

The Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling but also reminded that it does not change the fact that those responsible for the murder of the journalist have still not been convicted nearly 27 years later.

“After all, we have three completely contradictory judgments in the process for the murder of Ćuruvija. First, the accused were convicted at first instance to prison sentences, the appeal finally acquits them of guilt, while the Supreme Court establishes that the final judgment is unlawful! We demand accountability from everyone in the judiciary system who contributed to this catastrophic defeat of the judiciary, an institution without which this country has no future,” stated the Foundation in its announcement.

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Source: Cenzolovka