Jovanjica 1 marijuana plant trial continues, all defendants present

Sergej Mrdja, the co-defendant, who spent two years at large and was tried in absentia, also appeared before the Court after being extradited from Bosnia over a month ago.

He told the Thursday hearing he did not commit the crime he was charged with, disputed he was a member of an organised criminal group and that such a group even existed.
Koluvija, whom both indictments, Jovanjica 1 and 2, accused as the organiser of a criminal group that illegally produced and trafficked narcotics, requested that Aleksandar Zivanovic, his ex-officio defence counsel in the Jovanjica 2 proceedings, be added to his defence team. The court accepted the request.

Koluvija was released from detention and put under house arrest with an electronic ankle tag.

His lawyer asked the Court to allow taking the tag off Koluvija’s ankle, but the demand was rejected.

The next hearing in the Jovanjica 1 trial is scheduled for March 17.