N3.T13 – CONFRONTATION OF JUDGES IN HIGH COURT IN PODGORICA OVER DISPUTED VERDICT
HRA NEWSLETTER 3 – TOPIC 13
The trial of Dragan Mrdak, a judge at the High Court in Bijelo Polje, resumed in the High Court in Podgorica. Mrdak stands accused of falsifying a convicting judgment and, without the knowledge of his two colleagues on the judicial panel, altering it in a manner that purportedly invoked the statute of limitations. This case involves two employees of a Kolašin bank who are charged with abuse of position in economic operations—a crime that, under current law, cannot be subject to the statute of limitations.
During the proceedings, Judge Ivan Adamović, a member of the panel implicated in the case, confronted Mrdak, asserting that no decision regarding the statute of limitations was ever made. Adamović stated that the defendants had received a nine-month prison sentence, emphasizing that there was no additional deliberation regarding the contested case.
In his defense, Mrdak denied changing the decision in question without the consent of his fellow panel members. He accused Adamović of failing to acknowledge that they collectively made an error, suggesting that Adamović’s aspirations for the position of President of the High Court influenced his refusal to address this issue during the trial.
Additionally, Mrdak’s stenographer, Sonja Marković, is also facing charges for allegedly erasing the panel’s decision on Mrdak’s orders and replacing it with one that invoked the statute of limitations. Both Mrdak and Marković have denied the allegations against them. The trial is set to continue in February, at which point the third member of the trial panel, Dragan Dašić, is expected to provide testimony.
