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| Kertes enters plea in Tobacco Mafia trial |
| 30 June 2008 | 22:39
| Source:
Beta |
BELGRADE --
The trial of an organized cigarette smuggling group continued today at the Special Organized Crime Court in Belgrade.
The members of the network, allegedly led by Stanko Subotić, are charged for having illegally imported cigarettes to Serbia during the 1990s.
There has been no official explanation yet regarding the Russian authorities’ recent rejection of a request to extradite Subotić, held in Moscow since April and released last week, the Ministry of Justice said today.
The three-member chamber of the Special Court, presidedby Judge Milena Rašić, decided on May 19 to separate the proceedings against Subotić.
The trial continued this morning with former Milošević-era Federal Customs chief Mihalj Kertes entering his plea.
Kertes rejected all charges against him and said that "the only correct thing in the entire indictment" was his name.
"The indictment says that I let trucks [loaded with cigarettes] through for three gangs, but it doesn’t say that I took my share. That’s impossible. Why would I allow the trucks to enter the country and not take my share? The prosecutor is trying to make me look like an imbecile, but, I believe that I’m not one,” Kertes said.
He also stands accused of having been a member of the group led by Siniša Sojičić, brother of slain MUP chief Radovan Stojičić. As the investigation unfolded, Kertes was indicted for his alleged membership in a criminal gang led by Mirjana Marković, and Marko Milošević – the wife and son of Slobodan Milošević.
Another count of the indictment against Kertes, Milošević's former close aide, is abuse of official position.
"I am the usual suspect since 2000. Every time someone wished to do so, I got indicted. I was officially blackmailed by the Hague Tribunal to say three sentences prepared in advance, via video link, against Slobodan Milošević. They said if I did that, all these charges would be dropped, but I refused,” he told the court today.
The former customs chief also repeated the defense he used at his other trials, saying that "his end began" after he was appointed to the job, and after he managed to suppress smuggling and increase the customs revenues mulitfold in 1994.
"During 1995 and 1996, the time frame of the indictment, our customs office was the best in Europe. We managed to prevent drug smuggling, weapons smuggling… Annual revenues were much higher that planned, and that extra money was used to save the country during the time of sanctions. 1,182 companies were funded by the customs. We are not a gang, and the state will sooner or later erect monuments to us,” Keres said.
He rejected allegations that he sent out Emergency Control Measures (VMK) teams to the borders that allowed trucks loaded with cigarettes to enter the country without paying the their duty.
"There was no such thing as the Kertes VMK crew. They had their own chief. Nor could that team simply arrive at a border crossing and let trucks through. That sort of thing doesn’t happen even in Biafra,” Kertes said.
He then provided an in-depth explanation of the legal procedure related to the customs, and said that everything was done according to the law.
Kertes repeated that the customs revenues provided between 70 and 80 percent of the federal budget, while the rest was obtained through taxes.
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