Željko Dževerdanović, a retired police officer who in 2020 worked as a duty operative at the Podgorica Security Centre, told the Higher Court that he cannot exclude the possibility a colleague used his official card to open the Građanska stanja application and check vehicle data covered by the indictment against Marko Drobnjak, the suspended Danilovgrad police chief.
The SDT charges Drobnjak with obtaining vehicle data through another officer and passing it to members of a criminal organisation formed in 2019 by Radoje Zvicer and Igor Božović. Prosecutors say the group had a developed network of associates assigned to track people who were to be killed, to obtain and hide weapons, to find apartments and vehicles for crimes, to take confidential data from police records and to intercept postal shipments.
Also accused are Nikola Vujotić, Vladimir Vujotić, Goran Čulić, Branislav Ivanović, Ognjen Rašeta, Mato Knežević, Žarko Vukadinović, Bogdan Stijepović, Ivan Popović, Vojin Vučinić and Stefan Ilić.
Dževerdanović told the Higher Court judges that officers who had access to official records often left their cards with colleagues, because cards had not been issued to some staff. He said that, because of the volume of work and frequent moves to other tasks, his card sometimes stayed active on the computer and was used by others. He remembers that a check of a particular vehicle was requested in July that year, but said the passage of time means he cannot reliably account for every circumstance.
He explained that data from the application was supplied to uniformed and criminal police officers and was not allowed to be given to citizens. Answering lawyer Marko Radović, he said other duties often took him away from his post. As a more experienced officer he was sent to arrests, the reception desk or detention rooms, and cards were left with officers who remained on duty because those officers had not been issued cards. He said trainees sometimes carried out official checks with his card, and that he cannot exclude the possibility that someone else, including in this specific case, made the check through his card.
Answering the court, he said checks did not always record precisely who had asked for a piece of information. In the application field meant for the name or designation of the officer requesting a check, staff often entered only the abbreviation PR, indicating that a check was being made. He said they were supposed to record exactly who requested each check, but the pace and volume of work meant they could not always do so. A shift could bring as many as 200 requests.
According to the SDT indictment, Drobnjak, then an officer in the Criminal Police Sector’s anti-drug department, allegedly abused his official position on 3 July 2020 so that members of the criminal organisation could obtain data from police records. Prosecutors say that, at the request of Milan Vujotić, passed on by the accused Ivan Popović, Drobnjak ordered Dževerdanović to check the vehicle with registration PG EG147 in Građanska stanja. The indictment states that Dževerdanović made the check with a smart card and reported the results to Drobnjak. The SDT says Drobnjak then sent the information to Ivan Popović, who the same day delivered it to Milan Vujotić through the encrypted application SKY ECC.
In his defence, Drobnjak denied the charges and said he was not a member of the criminal organisation. The indictment says Zvicer and Božović formed the group in 2019 to commit serious crimes, including murder and aggravated murder, and to gain illegal profit and power. Prosecutors say members had assigned tasks that included tracking people marked for murder, obtaining and hiding weapons, finding safe houses, securing vehicles, using encrypted phones and GPS devices, and collecting information on the movement of police patrols.
According to the indictment, Nikola Vujotić passed on the organisers’ orders, engaged others to track rivals and organised weapons purchases, while Vladimir Vujotić was responsible for finding apartments for concealment and for gathering information on people and property. Branislav Ivanović is accused of following the late Milić Šaković and photographing sites linked to him. Ognjen Rašeta is accused of watching people marked for killing and proposing how the killings would be carried out. Žarko Vukadinović, while working at Pošta Crne Gore, is accused of opening and photographing mail addressed to the late Edmond Mustafa and to Jovan Vukotić without authority, and of sending the contents to Nikola Vujotić. Bogdan Stijepović is accused of securing apartments and vehicles for the organisation. Prosecutors say Ivan Popović helped obtain encrypted phones and GPS devices and passed information between members.
The next hearing is set for 11 November.