Jovanović: The moment the last witness was questioned, the High Court had only one option - to order Ubović’s release
I don’t understand the fuss over Ranko Ubović being released. This is something entirely legal, since we are all presumably acting on the basis of the same procedural provisions - said defense attorney Stefan Jovanović commenting on the SSPO’s statement that the termination of detention for businessmen Ranko Ubović and Vladan Ivanović was unlawful.
Ranko Ubović's detention was first of all ordered, and then extended later on the grounds of risk of influencing witnesses.
- At the moment the last witness was questioned, that risk - if it even existed - ceased to exist, and the Court had only one option, which was to order the release of Ranko Ubović – said Jovanović.
In his view, the prosecutors handling the case fully complied with and acted upon the instructions of the Supreme State Prosecutor, Mr. Marković, who emphasized that in situations where custody is ordered due to the possibility of witness tampering, proceedings must be conducted urgently. They acted urgently and within a reasonable timeframe in Ubović’s case by questioning the witnesses. Once the last witness had been questioned the grounds for detention „disappeared“.
- The interpretation of the Special State Prosecutor's Oficce reflects an excessive formalism that the European Court does not allow, because the Convention requires that anyone deprived of liberty must be released immediately once all witnesses have been questioned - Jovanović said.
Taking into account the detention grounds when it comes to Ranko Ubović, says the lawyer, his further stay in detention would be illegal under the provisions of Article 174, paragraph 3 in which it is decisively and clearly stated that during the entire procedure detention will be terminated at the moment when the reasons for its further duration cease.
- I repeat, at the moment when the last witness was questioned, there was no other option but to release Ranko Ubović - the lawyer emphasized.
What is significant, Jovanović points out, is that the decisions on the abolition of detention were made by two investigative judges of the High Court in Podgorica, which means that these are legal decisions.
- I really don't expect anything unusual from the Criminal Chamber of the High Court in Podgorica regarding the announced appeal of the SSPO, because it was the precisely the Criminal Chamber of the High Court that extended Ranko Ubović's detention on the basis of point 2 and it would be pointless to keep someone in custody once thE legal grounds have disappeared, and if it had been done differently maybe even those judges would have entered into some kind of criminal liability - concluded lawyer Jovanović.