The trial of the Belivuk-Miljković clan: "And then Belivuk cut off the victim's head with an ax..."

In front of the court and journalists, Veljko Belivuk appeared in a white short-sleeved shirt and jeans. With his gait and posture, he tried to convey that he still had muscles and was in control of the situation. The second leader of the clan, Marko Miljković, wore a gray and black summer T-shirt so that a large tattoo of the "all-seeing eye" on his left upper arm was visible. More than twenty of their associates were also dressed as if they were performing in the stands of the stadium.

However, they were sitting in a glass cage in the largest courtroom for organized crime. They were surrounded by court guards. At the beginning of the trial, they conspicuously grinned, chatted, threw insults at each other and persistently turned their heads towards the audience section. They looked for family members, friends or former comrades from the stands. There was no one to look back at them. Only a few journalists and law students sat in the audience section.

A group of defendants tried to perform a short performance for the public immediately after the start of the trial. All of them, almost at the same time, asked for a confidential conversation with a lawyer or to go to the toilet. When they hugged the defense attorneys, who cheered them on by patting them on the shoulder, the prosecutor took the floor. For the next three hours, while the prosecutor read what the leaders were accused of and members of the Belivuk - Miljković clan, the courtroom was ruled by a king. Not because those present were stunned by the gruesome details of the brutal torture and massacre of the victims, but because the defendants were visibly bored.

While the words echoed through the courtroom: "And then Belivuk cut off the victim's head with an ax...", Velja Nevolja yawned and looked at the ceiling. As the victims lined up in the prosecutor's presentation, Belivuk at one point unbuckled his belt in order to recline more easily in the defendant's chair. At one point, indifferent to the looks of everyone in the courtroom, the defendants dozed off. More striking than that image was the behavior of the court guards who looked down on the clan with contempt. All but one guard refused any attempt by the defendants to speak with them. They weren't worth their attention, as long as they were there, housed behind bulletproof glass with life sentences hanging over their heads.

Belivuk's denial of the murders

Only after the break did Veljko Belivuk wait to address the public in the courtroom. He began his defense with the words: "I do not admit to a single crime." However, he soon confessed to several crimes, which are not mentioned in the indictment, and with the desire to accuse others, mainly political and police officials.

He stated that he, together with Aleksandar Stanković and other hooligans, joined forces with the Kosovo criminal Zvonko Veselinović for the famous demolition in Savamala in 2016. As he said, they did everything on the orders of the then chief of the Belgrade police, Veselin Milić. Belivuk just forgot to say that it was that chief Milić who arrested him five years later. It is unlikely that the prosecution will react to these statements, allegedly because of the famous one: "The defendant has the legal right to lie, if it benefits him."

Belivuk also pointed out that he became a member of the Serbian Progressive Party at the end of 2011, saying that he would be in charge of Blocks 45 and 70 in New Belgrade, without explaining what those "responsibilities" referred to.

More than once, Belivuk made accusations against the Minister of Police Aleksandar Vulin, without providing any concrete evidence for it.

Velja Nevolja also claims that the evidence against him, such as DNA traces, was planted. He pointed out that the real question is how it is possible that they were followed by the BIA and MUP for six months, and that no one reacted to the murders that happened at the same time, as the prosecution claims in the indictment.

"They put bugs, cameras everywhere, they knew what we do in the toilet, when we have relations with women, and in addition to all that, we killed six people?" Belivuk asked and then said that the prosecutor's office should also arrest those members of the police because they did not react.

"Is it normal for you that they let us kill so many people, and then let us go by plane to Montenegro?" Belyvuk asked the judge, alluding to the trip when they went to visit Radoj Zviter, the alleged leader of the Kavac clan.

On that occasion, upon their return to Serbia, they were detained and released. The mentioned trip took place a few days before they were arrested in a major operation by the BIA and MUP.

Sky app

All in all, Velja Nevolja did not say anything new compared to what he had already said before the prosecutors after his arrest. It seems as if he will present the real defense only after he learns the court's decision whether the Sky application, through which the clan exchanged messages and photos, will be used as evidence. Then he will know how much room for maneuver he has. For now, he is defending himself by saying that the images of the massacred victims in Ritopek, collected from Sky correspondence, were actually photoshopped.

Velja Nevolja, surrounded by ten court guards, at one point spread his hands and, in short, said to the judge: "Judge, the cooperating witnesses have been bribed, the prosecutors are taking them to dinners, kebabs and juice, promising them freedom soon, and how can I I fight it, except like this when I go on stage."

Soon Belivuk corrected himself and said that he mistakenly confused the stage and the courtroom.

Marko Miljković, even though he changed into a white shirt and a blue sweater during the break, in order to "get in the mood" for the presentation before the court panel, will still have to wait for a new hearing, scheduled for Wednesday.

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