March 31, 2023
Following the closing statements of the prosecutor, defence lawyers and the defendants themselves, the Court of Appeal ended its multi-day hearing in the case of the 11th April 1999 murder of journalist and publisher Slavko Ćuruvija.
Given that it had already adopted appeals lodged against the first-instance verdict and ordered a retrial, it is obligatory for the Court of Appeal to issue a final verdict following the hearing. It will be announced subsequently. In the case of a conviction, this will be the first final, binding verdict in Serbia for murdering or committing a serious crime against a journalist.
Speaking before the Court of Appeal, prosecutor Milenko Mandić once again – for the third time during the almost nine years that court proceedings over the murder of Ćuruvija have lasted – sought that the four former accused members of the State Security Service – Radomir Marković, Milan Radonjić, Ratko Romić and Miroslav Kurak, who remains at large – receive maximum prison sentences of 40 years each.
As has been the case on previous occasions, the defence lawyers of the accused and the defendants themselves requested acquittals.
During the trial, the Court of Appeal entered into the record almost 80 testimonies that had been previously rejected. An inspection of key evidence was also conducted – including records containing data from mobile phone base stations on the location of the accused at the time of the murder, which the defence had claimed did not exist.
