Prosecutor's Office demands 8 years of prison for Subotic

BELGRADE - The Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime suggested to the Belgrade Special Court on Thursday that businessmen Stanko Subotic should be sentenced to eight years of imprisonment for organising cigarette smuggling actions in Serbia during the '90s, while the proposed sentence for his associates entails two to six years of imprisonment.

In the closing argument in a restaged trial, the deputy prosecutor for organised crime suggested that Subotic's property to the total value of around DEM 56 million (in keeping with the exchange rate from the period of former Yugoslavia) and USD 6 million should be permanently seized as the equivalent for the damages done to the state budget through tobacco smuggling activities.

Subotic is charged with abuse of office as a figure of responsibility which entails a prison sentence of up to ten years. He is charged of having headed the criminal ring which smuggled cigarettes from Macedonia to Serbia in 1995 and 1996 and sold them illegally to companies and individuals.

Cigarette smuggling was performed with the help of officers of the Federal Customs Administration who allowed unregistered passage for trucks loaded with cigarettes, which were then taken to storage facilities around Serbia and sold later.

In this way, the criminal ring amassed EUR 28 million and USD 6 million worth of illegal gains.

In the closing argument, the Prosecutor's Office requested a five year prison sentence for former director of the Federal Customs Administration Mihalj Kertes and the same sentence was proposed for Subotic's nephew Nikola Milosevic.

The Prosecutor's Office requested a prison sentence of minimum six years for Stevan Banovic, while the proposed sentence for other...

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