Danilo Mandić: Judge, you are making fun of me

You are making fun of me, Your Honor. I fell off the bed and was unconscious. Look, the conditions for me in prison are great, just don’t bring up whether I had a bunk bed when I was a kid... These were the words of Danilo Mandić, the nephew of Andrija Mandić, who is currently on trial before the Basic Court in Podgorica for a serious offense against public safety, causing minor bodily injury, illegal possession of weapons and explosive materials, as well as theft of an official vehicle.

Judge Ivana Becić warned Mandić not to raise his voice and told him that he could not speak to her in that manner because it was inappropriate.

Mandić’s remarks followed a statement by his defense attorney Miroje Jovanović, who said that his client had injured his neck after falling from a bed in his detention cell. The judge then commented: „You didn’t have a bunk bed when you were a child“.

That comment triggered a strong reaction from Danilo Mandić, after which the judge said she had not intended to refer to his childhood and apologized if her remark had offended him, but stressed that he could not raise his voice or accuse the judge of making fun of him.

At today’s hearing, prosecutor Ivan Bojanić submitted an official note to the court stating that the license plates of the Land Rover were PG MH 058, which had been determined using a license plate reader after analyzing video recordings showing the movement of the vehicle on April 19.

According to the prosecution, Mandić used a parliamentary Land Rover to block the path of Podgorica residents Darko Perović and Aris Turković near the intersection of Marka Miljanova Street and Ivan Crnojević Boulevard.

After that, Mandić allegedly fired several shots at them, and Perović was wounded in the shooting.

Prosecutor Bojanić submitted the official note and a CD containing the recording of the license plates PG MH 058.

- I propose this as evidence - Bojanić said.

He added that the information had been determined through a license plate reader.

Defense attorney Jovanović objected to the evidence.

- In the video recording nothing can be seen. The license plate number is not visible, nor the person driving the vehicle. Either the video recording is used or the reader is used, but the official note does not state the brand of the reader. One excludes the other - Jovanović said.

He described these findings as later reconstructions.

Jovanović also argued that the court appears to have a preconceived opinion about the case that is unfavorable to his client. He based this claim on the phrase „resembling a gun“, which the judge used at the previous hearing while reviewing footage from a venue where his client had been.

Digital forensics expert Nikola Cmiljanić said he stood by his findings and opinion. The prosecutor had no questions.

Jovanović stated that it would be more appropriate to submit questions to the court for the expert so that he could respond to them.

He said he had prepared a large number of questions and that the expert would need to review a large number of files, which would require time. For that reason, he suggested that the main hearing should be postponed.

The expert said it would be more practical for the questions to be submitted to him so he could respond in writing.

The trial was postponed until April 15.