Laković, Photo: Risto Božović
The Police Directorate (UP) announced today that Saša Laković and Nemanja Muchalica are suspected of having enabled Miloš Medenica to escape after Medenica was detained.
“In order to provide objective, accurate and precise information to the public, and regarding the dissemination of misinformation, alarming the public and tendentious views expressed by individuals in the case of the prosecution of SL and NM suspects who are charged with the crime of facilitating the escape of a person deprived of their liberty from Article 394 of the Criminal Code, the Police Administration once again clarifies and additionally indicates the factual and legal basis on which there is a well-founded suspicion that the named persons have committed the above-mentioned criminal offense”, it is emphasized in announcement.
The UP added that in this regard, the specified legal qualification includes the exact time and manner of the commission of the criminal act, from which the facts emerge that on January 28, 2026, starting at 4 p.m., by the decision of the competent High Court, Miloš Medenica, who was previously sentenced to a prison sentence of ten years and two months by a first-instance verdict, was ordered into custody.
“From the moment of the adoption of the decision on custody, the act of committing a criminal offense begins only from 4:00 p.m. on January 28, 2026, when the obligation to ensure the presence of this person in the criminal proceedings begins, and any action aimed at hiding, transporting or moving him, which makes him inaccessible to law enforcement authorities, is regarded as the act of committing a criminal offense enabling the escape of a person deprived of his liberty. From that moment, it is suspected, the suspect the persons of SL and NM enabled the escape of Miloš Medenica, who was ordered to be detained by the court, which made him inaccessible to the law enforcement authorities,” said the UP.
From that institution, they indicate “that the allegations that attempt to replace theses regarding responsibility for the period from January 27, 2026, when Miloš Medenica left his residence in the evening hours and violated the surveillance measure, until January 28 at 4:00 p.m., are legally unfounded.”
“Namely, the violation of surveillance measures during that period does not constitute a criminal offense or a misdemeanor, which is confirmed by current practice, bearing in mind that a significant number of cases of violation of surveillance measures were recorded without criminal consequences,” said the UP.
They state that in communication with the Ministry of Justice, they initiated changes to the Criminal Code in the direction of standardizing the violation of surveillance measures as an independent criminal offense, and that the working version has already been sent to the European Commission for further harmonization.
“We especially point out that the criminal offense of facilitating the escape of a person deprived of liberty from Article 394 of the Criminal Code does not imply that the person being assisted must commit a new criminal offense at that moment, but that his freedom of movement is limited by the court’s decision, i.e. that he is detained. Therefore, it is a legally unfounded and incorrect interpretation that the possible responsibility of other persons depends on whether Miloš Medenica committed a new criminal offense at that moment, but solely on the fact that he was detained, which was escaped, with the help of suspects SL and NM or possibly third parties. The police administration appeals to all actors in the public space to refrain from spreading unverified and legally unfounded information that may mislead the public,” said the UP.
Laković and Mučalica, suspected of helping Miloš Medenica to escape, were released to defend themselves.
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