30 kg of cocaine seized in Ljubljana: defence demands evidence exclusion
A judge is to decide on the legality of evidence against Matej Mečerl and Serbian national Dragan Miljić, accused of cocaine trafficking worth €750,000.
Seizure of 30 kilogrammes of cocaine in Ljubljana: defence claims seizure was unlawful
Google News SI — Crime (sl) reports that Judge Jasmina Ivančič will rule in writing on whether evidence gathered against Matej Mečerl and Serbian national Dragan Miljić should remain in the case file. At the preliminary hearing, both defendants denied the charges, and their lawyers Miloš Zarič and Jernej Radež proposed exclusion of all gathered evidence.
Police seized approximately 30 kilogrammes of exceptionally pure cocaine from Mečerl and Miljić in December last year, valued at around €750,000 on the black market. The drugs were found in Mečerl's personal Kia vehicle on Brnčičeva Street in Ljubljana — in 30 vacuum-sealed packets, each bearing the logo of a protruding tongue.
"Look at him, the old criminal"
Kriminalistka Nives V. from the National Investigation Office testified before the court that she and colleague Branko R. had set out that day in plain clothes and a civilian vehicle to have lunch at a pizzeria in Šentjakob. While waiting for colleagues, they drove along Zasavska Street towards Brnčičeva when a vehicle passed by in which Branko R. recognised Mečerl. "Look at him, the old criminal," he commented. He followed the vehicle to a gravel car park, and Nives V. was dropped off at a nearby bus stop with instructions to observe what would happen. "He said, 'Something might happen here,'" she testified.
Nives V. then saw Mečerl approach a parked lorry. The door on the passenger side opened, through which he received a bag and carried it to the Kia, then returned for another. Both bags appeared to be heavy. The officer described what was happening to Branko R. over the phone. The latter arrived at the scene very quickly, joined by three more colleagues. When Nives V. approached, Mečerl and Miljić, who was said to have been driving the lorry, were already in custody. In the lorry, officers discovered two hidden compartments on the left and right sides of the upper part of the cabin.
Defence: "Shameless presentation of obviously false claims"
Lawyer Zarič reminded Nives V. of the official record that she and Branko R. had written at the time of the seizure — it stated that they were carrying out operative tasks, not going to lunch. "But now you're saying you went to lunch …" he told her. The witness replied: "Wherever we go, we look around us."
The defence is convinced that police unlawfully followed Mečerl before the seizure without legal grounds. The security check of the vehicle and inspection of the bags should likewise have been unlawful. The lawyers rely on the doctrine of fruit of the poisoned tree: if the original evidence was obtained in violation of human rights or procedural rules, all subsequent evidence derived from it is likewise unlawful.
The defence had proposed questioning three more witnesses, including two officers, but the judge determined that she could decide on the motion to exclude evidence without doing so. After the hearing, lawyer Radež stated: "In these proceedings, we have witnessed the shameless presentation of obviously false claims, from the very beginning of the alleged operation, its execution and conclusions. I appeal to the court, as an organ that oversees the lawfulness of police work, to treat these testimonies appropriately and make a ruling on the exclusion of evidence."
Judge Ivančič's ruling will be of crucial importance to both defendants: if the court grants the defence motion, the evidence of the seizure would be excluded from the case file, which would significantly hamper the further criminal proceedings for the offence of unlawful production and trafficking in prohibited drugs.
Source: Google News SI — Crime (sl)