Montenegro Clears Defendants Accused of Tunnelling into Court Storage

The tunnel into the court storage room, which was about 30 metres long. Photo: Montenegrin government. All seven people accused of digging a tunnel into the underground depot of the Higher Court in Montenegro’s capital and stealing evidence were acquitted on Friday in a first-instance verdict. Veljko Markovic, Milan Markovic, Dejan Jovanovic, Vladimir Eric, Predrag Mirotic, Katarina Bacovic and Nikola Milacic were acquitted of forming a criminal association for aggravated theft, while Marijan Vuljaj was acquitted of assisting the perpetrators. A lack of evidence was given as the reason for the acquittal. An unknown group dug a tunnel from the basement of a building across the street from the Higher Court into the court’s evidence depot, which was broken into on September 8, 2023. The warehouse had contained items related to ongoing trials, including weapons and drugs. The thieves stole some evidence stored there, according to the Podgorica Prosecutor’s Office and police. Investigators determined that the tunnel, which led into the court depot, had been dug from late July 2023. Explaining the ruling, the court stated there was no evidence that the accused committed the crimes of criminal association and aggravated theft. It was also noted that no DNA was found in the tunnel, or inside the High Court’s depot, and the court could not conclude that the accused had dug the tunnel. “There is only a degree of suspicion, since they were seen on camera moving through the city, but there is no concrete evidence,” judge Borko Loncar said on Friday. Judge Loncar noted that the motive for digging the tunnel was never established. He added that the value of the stolen items, estimated at around 11,000 euros, could hardly justify such a serious and risky operation. According to the verdict, neither drugs nor other items from the files were proven to be the target, and those who dug the tunnel could have identified where items of greater importance were stored, had that been their intention. Loncar pointed out that the digging took place in the very centre of the capital, near key state institutions, and had involved extensive work that was neither prevented nor detected promptly. “This is a great shame for the security sector in Montenegro,” he added. According to the verdict, the tunnel was only discovered by chance, when a court clerk noticed unusual activity during an inventory and found an opening leading to the underground passage.