The Basic State Prosecutor in Kolašin opened a criminal case in the case of the beating of Andrea Sekulić, a woman from Kolašin, in which Ivan Bojić, a member of the Police Administration, was accused.
This was done after the intervention of the supreme state prosecutor Ivica Stanković. Stanković reacted after the Center for Women's Rights sent him a request to review the decision of the Kolasin prosecutor, who initially qualified the case as a misdemeanor.
A day after the incident, the Council for Citizen Control of Police Work called on the prosecutor's office to review the assessment because there is information available that indicates the existence of violent behavior or some other criminal offense that is being prosecuted ex officio.
The girl told "Vijesta" that an officer of the Police Administration beat her twice, brutally and for no reason, in the nightclub "Selekt" on June 9.
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"I asked the head of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Kolašin for an urgent report on the proceedings in this case.
In the submitted report, it is stated, among other things, that the acting prosecutor in this case, after being acquainted with AS's medical documentation, formed a criminal case in which he demanded specific actions be taken (exclusion of the audio-visual recording from the video surveillance of the night club "Select" in Kolašin and collecting other information).
In the further course of the procedure, as stated in the report, other necessary actions will be taken in order to determine the possible existence of elements of the criminal offense for which he is being prosecuted ex officio", Stanković said in his reply to the non-governmental organization headed by Maja Raičević.
The Center for Women's Rights previously expressed concern over the decision of the Kolasin prosecutor to qualify a case of gender-based violence against a woman as a misdemeanor, and not as a criminal offense prosecuted ex officio.
"This is all the more so since an officer of the Police Administration was blamed for this act, who by his behavior caused serious physical injuries to the victim, and with insults, threats and behavior expressed an extremely discriminatory attitude towards the victim as a woman. ODT Kolašin made the decision on the qualification of the offense before hearing the injured party, without seeing the complete medical documentation, photos of injuries that were not expertized by any of the court's experts", reads the press release of that non-governmental organization from seven days ago. After the incident, the Police Administration announced that a misdemeanor charge had been filed against their officer and that he would be subject to disciplinary action.
"By acting like this, ODT Kolašin minimizes the consequences of violence against women, which represents a kind of institutional discrimination against victims and does not act as a deterrent to the perpetrators of these crimes," the Center for Women's Rights announced.
They announced that they would provide the injured victim with free legal representation and would monitor the actions of the institutions in that case with the greatest care, which, they noted, is of particular importance for the protection of equality and the protection of women from violence.
After being beaten, Sekulić told "Vijesta" that it all started after she unsuccessfully begged the policeman several times to get out of the women's toilet, which he entered after her.
She said that she did not know Bojić.
According to her, the policeman soon became aggressive, first brutally insulting her, and then beating her with his hands and feet.
Are they reviewing the prosecutor's work?
In a letter, Stanković informed the Center for Women's Rights that he had asked the Higher State Prosecutor's Office to review the collusion of the Kolašin prosecutor in that case.
"Having in mind the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women, as well as the legal provisions that the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Kolašin is directly responsible to the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje, I asked the head of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje to urgently review the actions of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Kolašin in this case and to inform me about the decision as soon as possible".
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