The state must pay Marina Krstović €97,500 with default interest
Marina Krstović and her father Budimir Krstović sued the state after they were acquitted of charges of cocaine smuggling following 15 months spent in detention. In her lawsuit, she sought €160,000, while her father claimed €560,000. The proceedings concerning her father’s claim for non-pecuniary damages before the Basic Court have not yet been concluded
The state is required to pay Marina Krstović 97,500 euros with statutory default interest as compensation for non-pecuniary damage due to the violation of her personal rights caused by unlawful arrest - this was decided by the Basic Court in Podgorica, which partially upheld her claim.
Marina Krstović and her father Budimir Krstović sued the state after they were finally acquitted of charges that they had smuggled cocaine, following 15 months spent in detention.
She sought €160,000 in damages through the lawsuit, while her father claimed €560,000. The proceedings initiated by her father for compensation for non-pecuniary damage before the Basic Court are still ongoing.
CLAIM
- The claim was partially upheld, and the defendant was ordered to pay the plaintiff compensation for non-pecuniary damage due to the violation of personal rights (psychological and physical integrity, freedom, honor, and reputation), for the suffering and future emotional distress caused by unlawful deprivation of liberty, in the amount of €52,500, together with statutory default interest from October 30, 2024, the date the lawsuit was filed, until final payment. Furthermore, due to violations of personal rights including the presumption of innocence, the right to a legal remedy, the right to private life, and the right to reputation, honor, and dignity, as well as compensation for emotional suffering, primary and secondary fear, and endured and future fear, the state is ordered to pay €45,000 with statutory default interest, all within 15 days from the date the judgment becomes final - Public Relations Adviser at the Basic Court in Podgorica, Nađa Pešić, told Portal ETV.
Pešić explained that Marina Krstović’s additional claims for payment of €7,500 and €55,000, also on the grounds of violation of personal rights, were rejected as unfounded.
ACQUITTED OF CHARGES
Budimir and Marina Krstović were arrested at the end of August 2021 in a police and customs operation after police discovered 1,200 kilograms of cocaine in their warehouse in the village of Mojanovići in Zeta, near Podgorica. From the very beginning, they maintained before investigators that they had nothing to do with the drugs that were found.
At the end of 2022, after spending 15 months in detention, the Krstović family members were acquitted due to lack of evidence. However, after the Court of Appeals of Montenegro upheld the prosecution’s appeal on July 3, they once again appeared before the High Court.
Judge Vesna Kovačević of the High Court, in the retrial, delivered a judgment in favor of the Krstović family in July 2023, and the Court of Appeals confirmed the ruling in April 2024.
Following the final judgment, Marina Krstović spoke in the TV show „Dokaz“ on TV E about the circumstances of the arrest, the court proceedings, and the consequences. She also revealed details previously unknown to the public. According to her, although politicians publicly stated that „America would envy us for such a cocaine seizure operation“, upon their release from prison, the Krstović family received congratulations from representatives of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for the acquittal verdict.