The special court in Belgrade resumed proceedings against members of the criminal group led by Veljko Belivuk, hearing audio recordings of conversations among the accused and discussions with family members, friends, and associates.

The court has denied requests from the defendants and their attorneys to remove the prosecuting attorney for organized crime Saša Ivanić and chief prosecutor Mladen Nenadić from the case.

During the proceedings in courtroom number one, a recording of a conversation between Belivuk and his wife Bojana, dated September 15, 2020, was played.

In this exchange, they discussed switches reportedly brought by an associate nicknamed "Spale." The prosecution claims that this conversation took place over the phone of Nikola Spasojević, one of the accused.

Another recording, according to the indictment, was held in a house in Tršić, near Loznica, owned by accused spouses Slađana Sekulić and Vlado Georgijev.

In this conversation, Belivuk mentioned the nickname "Kratos," which the prosecution alleges was used by co-defendant Marko Miljković on the encrypted application "Sky." At this moment, Belivuk took the stand and stated that he had never referred to Miljković by that nickname.

An audio recording of Miloš Budimir was also played, where he mentioned being "by Ikea" in a conversation with a woman on December 9, 2020. The prosecution argues that this indicates Budimir's presence near the location of the abduction and subsequent murder of Milan Ljepoja, who was killed that day at a house in Ritopek.

Security services had monitored Veljko Belivuk under the codename "Vukdolak," which is reflected in the secretly recorded conversations as part of the case.

The codename for co-defendant Miloš Budimir, whose recordings were played in court, was "Fontana."

According to the indictment, Ljepoja was lured to a weekend house by group members under the pretext of purchasing an armored vehicle.

The public prosecutor's office states that upon arrival at the house, he was taken to a hidden room, killed, and that his remains were ground up and dumped in the Danube.

At the beginning of the resumed hearing, several defendants and their attorney requested the exclusion of prosecuting attorney Saša Ivanić, accusing him of withholding certain evidence.

Both Belivuk, Miljković, and Miloš Budimir supported these claims.

However, the presiding judge dismissed the requests, citing previous decisions made on similar requests.

The trial is set to continue tomorrow.