Jovanjica Trial: Prosecutor Reveals “Security Council” Chats

The Special Court in Belgrade, on September 23, in the joint “Jovanjica 1” and “Jovanjica 2” proceedings, heard messages that prosecutors call the key evidence in the case. Organized crime prosecutor Sasa Drecun presented the judicial panel, chaired by judge Zoran Ganic, with the content of correspondence from the “Security Council” chat group, conducted on the encrypted “Razgovor” app between November 8 and 14, 2019.

According to the prosecution, the group was formed after a drone flew over the Jovanjica estate. Most of the messages were exchanged on November 13, 2019, the day police searched the estate, found marijuana, and arrested Predrag Koluvija.

Who Was in the Group, According to Prosecutors

Drecun stated that the group included first defendant Koluvija, former police officer Milan Kendija, Jovanjica co-owner Aleksandar Andjic, and security service members Aleksandar Tosic and Branislav Radosavljevic. Insajder’s list of participants also includes second defendant Sergej Mrdja.

Sources disagree on the affiliation of Radovan Bojovic, whose messages the prosecutor singled out as the most numerous. KRIK identifies him as a member of the Security Information Agency (BIA), while Insajder and N1 say he was a member of the Interior Ministry (MUP) at the time of the correspondence. KRIK also adds that Kendija was, during that period, the former chief of the Unit for the Protection of Certain Persons and Facilities.

What the Messages Say, According to the Prosecutor

According to Drecun, the messages show that group members tried to prevent media coverage of the arrest, find out the name of the prosecutor leading the investigation, and involve the military intelligence service to compromise the Belgrade police’s Fourth Department.

In one message, which the prosecution attributes to Bojovic, it read:

“The directors have to call, because Predrag Koluvija is a protected indirect figure for both services.”

Another message, presented the same day, reads: “Only the directors of the services can stop all of this.”

N1 published part of the messages verbatim. According to that transcript, Bojovic wrote:

“They went in downstairs too. Get in touch. The media are the most important thing right now, so it doesn’t get out.”

Kendija, N1 reports, wrote: “The kid is going to lose his head,” referring to Slobodan Milenkovic, then chief of the Fourth Department, who led the operation at the estate and whom the group also called “Mali Senta.” Andjic, according to the same source, asked: “Who can stop the media.”

Defense Challenges the Messages’ Authenticity

Koluvija’s defense attorneys, Aleksandar Zivanovic and Svetislav Bojic, disputed the authenticity of the correspondence. Zivanovic pointed out that, based on the content of the messages, Koluvija is not mentioned at all on November 13, even though, according to the prosecution’s claims about his role as organizer, he should have been issuing orders to cover things up. He also noted inconsistencies in witness testimony about when Koluvija’s phones were seized, which, he said, calls into question the authenticity of the confiscation records. Bojic asked the panel to exclude the messages from the evidence.

Prosecutor Drecun, for his part, asked the court to urgently summon Milenkovic as a witness, since he led the operation at Jovanjica as chief of the Fourth Department.

The next hearings in the proceedings are scheduled for October 13 and 15.