The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica is investigating whether Zoran Perović, one of the suspected masterminds of the bomb attack on the house of the head of the investigative service of the Spuša prison, Saša Burić, was beaten in the Investigation Prison.
The detainee claims that Burić and his colleagues met him in custody with beatings, his defense lawyer, lawyer Damir Lekić, told "Vijesta".
The Administration for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions (UIKS) said that they had no knowledge that anyone had physically abused Perović and that they had collected information and submitted it to the prosecution.
"A case has been established and is in the investigation phase. Probative actions are being taken in order to establish the facts that are important for making a decision", spokeswoman for ODT Podgorica, prosecutor Milica Mandić, told "Vijesta".
Perović was arrested on March 17 on suspicion of having organized a bomb attack on Burić's house with Baranina Edmond Mustafa.
"After the investigating judge of the Basic Court in Podgorica, Miladin Pejović, ordered the detention of Perović and the others, the police took them to the Investigation Prison. When Perović got there, Saša Burić met him with several officers of the Investigation Prison, from the corridor covered by video surveillance, they pushed him into the room for lawyers' visits, where they beat him, inflicting several injuries on him, for which he sought medical help, which he received only the day after tomorrow. That event was recorded by surveillance cameras," claims Lekić.
He points out that, when he visited Perović, he convinced himself that he was injured.
"At the same moment, we alerted the head of the Investigation Prison, the judge investigating Pejović, the ombudsman and filed a criminal complaint with the competent state prosecutor's office," said Lekić.
He repeated that Perović denied involvement in the bombing and that by law he must be considered innocent until proven otherwise.
"This kind of behavior by any employee, including the UIKS employee, and especially the injured party, is unacceptable and must be sanctioned. He should no longer hold office in that state body. Given that Perović was injured by several UIKS officers and that the event, at least in part, must be recorded by video surveillance, we believe that the truth will soon come to light and that criminal and disciplinary proceedings will soon be initiated against those responsible. ", said Lekic.
He added that his client told him that prison guards beat him for no apparent reason in the corridor between the family and lawyer visiting rooms.
"While they were beating him, as he claims, they were telling him to convey his greetings to Mustafa and me, who represent them in that case," Lekić said.
The lawyer says that Perović told the prosecution everything that happened, naming Burić and Mitar Radulović as the people who beat him. "Mustafa was also heard, who told his indirect knowledge. Two co-suspects, Miljan Dujović and Nikola Cupać, who were taken to the remand prison when he and who saw the event, were proposed as witnesses," said Lekić.
The police named Mustafa and Perović as the masterminds of the bomb attack on Saša Burić's house on February 11.
The police claim that Stefan Marković activated the bomb in his yard, and that his co-perpetrators were Miljan Dujović and Nikola Cupać.
All, except Marković, denied guilt.
UIKS: No improper behavior of officials has been established
Despite the claims of Perović's lawyer, as well as the established case, the UIKS responded on March 31 that the authorities do not have knowledge that "the detainee ZP was physically abused by any official during his admission to this organizational unit of the UIKS, nor that on that occasion threats were sent to him, prisoner EM and lawyer DL".
"In order to verify the allegations in question, an interview was conducted with the detainee ZP and the prisoner EM, (who is otherwise housed in the Penitentiary Home), from which written statements were taken, notifications from officials were collected, video surveillance from surveillance cameras that recorded the activities on the application form of the Investigation Prison that occurred during the reception of the detainee ZP, and the lawyer DL was also contacted, on the basis of which it has not been established that there was any illegal behavior in the behavior of any officer in relation to the detainee, or punishment of the detainee, as nor uttered threats to any person", the answers say.
They also pointed out that, bearing in mind the importance of protecting the physical and bodily integrity of each individual in the prison system, "all collected notifications about this case were submitted to the competent prosecutor's office for evaluation, and possible further action."
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