Tea Gorjanc-Prelević, executive director of Human Rights Action (HRA), announced today that she is responding to yesterday's denial of the Police Administration on the occasion of the HRA's earlier announcement related to the alleged brutal torture in the Security Center (CB Podgorica).
"For the sake of the domestic and international public, on the occasion of yesterday's announcement by the NGO Action for Human Rights (HRA) regarding reports of torture and extortion of statements in the investigation of the "bomb attacks" on the "Grand" bar and the house of Duško Golubović, in order to protect the credibility of our organization and in the general interest progress of Montenegro towards the establishment of the rule of law and the protection of human rights, I am responding to the denial of our statement that the Police Administration delivered to the media yesterday," Gorjanc-Prelević pointed out.
She added that key sentences from the denials of the Police Administration were highlighted and that answers were given to them.
"It is about the synchronized design of alleged police torture as an attempt to justify the crimes committed" ... "the competent prosecutor assessed the legal validity and quality of the collected evidence and ordered that the persons be prosecuted for the criminal offenses they were charged with.", it was written in yesterday's announcement by the Police Administration.
Gorjanc-Prelević said in response to this part of the statement that they have no knowledge that the persons who reported police torture communicated with each other at all.
"Jovan Grujičić has been in custody since May 26, when he was taken from the hospital in Dobrota, and he does not have a phone with him. We do not see what motive MB and Benjamin Mugoša would have to invent torture, who are neither accused nor suspected of the criminal acts in question. The second sentence is not correct, that the prosecutor gave an order to prosecute the "persons". MB was never prosecuted in this case, but was treated as a witness, and the criminal charges against Benjamin Mugoša were dismissed, because the court also found that he was in prison when both explosives were planted. Grujicic is the only defendant, and that only on the basis of his confession, which he claims was forced by torture, and on the basis of anthropological expertise, which could not exclude him as the person who was filmed planting the explosives, which only does not present any evidence to itself. (Information about the well-founded suspicion against Grujičić is from the decision of the Basic Court in Podgorica, which extended his detention on June 25 (Kv. no. 683/20)), Gorjanc-Prelević said.
Yesterday, the Police Administration said that the HRA statement "is based on the statements of suspects who are trying to justify the commission of criminal acts of high social danger."
In response, Gorjanc-Prelević said that "HRA's statement is not based only on three statements that one defendant, one ex-suspect and one so-called witness gave on the record to state prosecutors about the use of torture against them by officers of the criminal police in Podgorica". but also on:
1) photos of MB's injuries, which in the meantime were published by television Vijesti and daily Dan;
2) the fact that in the case of MB and Benjamin Mugoša, court experts examined the injuries and made findings for the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica. The same expert examination had to be done for the third, Jovan Grujičić, as soon as the complaint of torture against the prosecutor Suzana Milić was filed on June 4;
3) the fact that the court found that both MB and Jovan Grujičić gave false statements about the participation of Benjamin Mugoša in planting explosives, because he was in prison at the same time - this fact, based on international practice, indicates that such statements were coerced;
4) the fact that the testimony of Jovan Grujičić was already evaluated by the Basic Court in Podgorica as "unconvincing" and based on it refused to extend the detention of Zoran Mugoša, who was also initially suspected of participating in the "bombing attacks" (Kv. no. 579/20) ;
5) the fact that Jovan Grujičić was detained only on the basis of his statement, which he claims was coerced, and on the basis of the "loose" findings of the anthropological expert that he cannot be ruled out as the person seen on the video setting the explosives (mentioned decision of the Basic Court in Podgorica Kv. no. 683/20);
6) the findings of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) from the report on the visit to Montenegro in 2013 and 2017 on the use of electric shocks in the Montenegrin police, as well as the finding from the report on the visit in 2017 that the use of abuse in the Montenegrin police is "a fact " and that it is "accepted practice among criminal inspectors".
In yesterday's announcement of the Police Administration, it is stated that "neither the suspect nor the witnesses expressed any objections to the work of the police officers neither in the police nor in the competent prosecutor's office... It is obviously an afterthought..."
Gorjanc-Prelevic said that all three people reported long-term police torture during which they were threatened with death.
"All three reported the torture to the primary state prosecutors in Podgorica, namely:
1) The MB reported the torture and the injuries sustained the very next day, May 26 at 12:55, to the state prosecutor Romina Vlahović in the Basic State Prosecutor's Office on the record of Ktn. no. 123/20;
2) Benjamin Mugoša reported both torture and injuries on the record on May 28, as soon as the police, after "processing" at CB Podgorica, took him to state prosecutor Snežana Šišević, Kt. no. 845/20;
3) Jovan Grujičić has not been released since May 26, when he claims that he was tortured. As soon as his father, Budimir, visited him in prison, on June 4, he reported the torture of his son to the state prosecutor Suzana Milić at the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, and then to the Internal Control of Police Work on June 24, and Jovan himself reported the torture to the Basic State to the prosecutor in Podgorica during his hearing on June 24. The same was reported by representatives of the Ombudsman's office who visited him in prison," said Gorjanc-Prelević.
Yesterday's announcement by the Police Administration also states that "all measures and actions were taken in accordance with legal authorizations and standard operating procedures."
Gorjanc-Prelević considers this statement hasty.
"Nowhere in the world can the head of the police know in such a short period of time whether police officers exceeded their powers, before an investigation is carried out. With this statement, the Police Directorate a priori defended itself in the defense of civil servants who were accused of applying the most terrible methods torture, which is very disappointing. I believe that such a statement will be perceived by the European Commission and other international observers as a brake on Montenegro's progress in reaching the rule of law," concluded Gorjanc-Prelević.
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