The lawyers: The Special Prosecutor's Office put the defense in an unfavorable situation, a fair court decision

Lawyers Ljubomir Pantovic, Milos Delevec, and Jovana Filipovic, who represent the accused in the Banjska case, stated after the postponed hearing that the court made a fair decision by halting today's session, emphasizing that the case files were provided to them only a day and a half earlier, and only in electronic form, which did not give them enough time to prepare the defense.

Lawyer Ljubomir Pantovic said that the Special Prosecutor's Office put the defense in an unfavorable situation.

"The Special Prosecutor's Office put the defense in an unfavorable situation by providing us with a 158-page indictment, along with several thousand pages of material, only a day and a half before the start of the initial hearing. This is a very important stage of the proceedings, and it was impossible to prepare for such an important matter in such a short time. The defendants, who face severe sentences, have not been given the indictment, so they don't even know what they are being charged with. The judge did not make a mistake in postponing the initial hearing," he said.

Regarding the trial in absentia, which the prosecutor proposed today and which concerns 42 individuals from the indictment, Pantovic stated that, given the current legal provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, he believes it is not possible.

"All ambiguities under the law are interpreted in favor of the accused, so we will have to wait and see what the Supreme Court decides," Pantovic said.

Lawyer Milos Delevic emphasized that the defense did not have enough time to consult with their clients.

"The hearing has been postponed, and we will have enough time to review the files and for our clients to declare their plea," he said.

As stated, Tolic, who was injured on September 24, has undergone two surgeries and is still walking with the aid of crutches.

"You know that Tolic was injured a year ago. He has had two surgeries, the second one being successful. He is currently walking with the help of crutches, but he will soon be better," said Delevic.

Lawyer Jovana Filipovic pointed out that Dusan Maksimovic's plea is not in dispute, but the issue lies in the fact that the defense is under a deadline to file objections to the evidence and requests to dismiss the indictment.

"I believe the court made a fair decision by halting the proceedings and postponing them for a certain period of time," Filipovic stated.