Lawyer Vladimir Đukanović stated in front of the Special Court that the proceedings against the Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković were legally unsustainable, claiming that the decision from 2005 declaring the General Staff building a cultural asset was later declared null and void, and that the building never had a protected status.
Vladimir Djukanovic, one of the lawyers of the Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković who is on trial as part of the "General Staff" affair, declared in front of the Special Court that the proceedings against his client were a "legal absurdity", claiming that the General Staff did not have the status of a cultural property, because the decision from 2005 was declared null and void.
"I asked for the legal situation to be clearly established. I will remind you - it is a decision from 2005 which supposedly declared the General Staff building a cultural asset, but that decision was later declared null and void. This means that the building never had the status of a cultural asset, and therefore could not even be protected in terms of alleged damage to cultural heritage," said Đukanović.
He is convinced that they will come out of the proceedings as winners.
"If it is an abuse, there must be a benefit for someone or a harm somewhere, there is no harm or benefit anywhere in the indictment, the only harm was done to Serbia, because a profitable business for the state and something that could have damaged our relationship with the USA was destroyed," said Đukanović.
He stated that 1.700 negative texts made fun of the proceedings and accused "some media" of receiving the indictment proposal before the defense attorneys.
"We are used to experiencing something like this from this institution. I am convinced that we will come out as winners, which we have already done today," said Selaković's lawyer, and then entered into a verbal argument with a journalist from TV N1.
Selaković's trial has begun: How much punishment can he receive?
His client, the Minister of Culture, said at today's hearing that he will not invoke immunity.
Nikola Selaković is defended by five lawyers, among whom are Vladimir Đukanović, Dragan Palibrk and Igor Isailović, who is in charge of the economic affairs of prominent members of the SNS.
When asked by the president of the court panel if he had received the indictment, Selaković said that he had not and that he learned everything from the media from N1 and Nova, as well as when the hearing was scheduled and what was written in the indictment.
The Minister of Culture, along with three other civil servants, is on trial after being accused of creating a document with false content through a series of illegal actions, which served the authorities to remove the protection of the General Staff building, damaged in the NATO bombing, as a cultural asset and pass a lex specialis.
Selaković and the other defendants - the secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Slavica Jelača, and the acting directors of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia and Belgrade, Goran Vasić and Aleksandar Ivanović, denied guilt for abusing their official position and falsifying an official document in order to illegally deprive the General Staff building of its status as a cultural asset.
Today's trial in the General Staff case in the Special Court has ended, and the next hearing is scheduled for April 15.
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