Action for Human Rights (HRA) welcomes the progress in the investigation of torture in the case of the investigation of the "bomb attacks" in relation to the victim Marko Boljević, this NGO announced.
They add that "the basic state prosecutor in Podgorica, Romina Vlahović, recently accused five officers of the Police Administration from the Podgorica Security Center for extorting Boljević's testimony on May 25, 2020, at the Podgorica Police Station."
"We remind you that Boljević reported that he was tortured in the same way as Jovan Grujičić and Mugoš was beaten using electric shockers in the area of the genitals and thighs, hit with boxing gloves, baseball bats and hands in the upper part of the body and on the soles of his feet; that he was threatened with murder by repeating a gun next to his head, that he was insulted and humiliated. He claimed that during the interrogation they played loud music from a loud speaker so that his moans could be heard less," the HRA statement reads.
In the case of reports of torture in CB Podgorica against Benjamin Mugoš and Jovan Grujičić, which were also confirmed by medical documentation, as stated, no one has been charged yet.
"HRA believes that the recent decision of the Basic State Prosecutor in Podgorica, Maja Knežević, to dismiss the criminal charges against all ten reported officers of the Police Administration under whose jurisdiction Jovan Grujičić was all day on May 26, 2020, when it was confirmed by medical findings that he was tortured, represents a defeat of the rule of law. Prosecutor Knežević concluded that it was 'obvious' that none of the reported officers who interrogated Grujičić and were continuously in charge of him did torture, because they did not confess to the crime, and he did not recognize them, because they were masked. This conclusion is "Unfortunately, the expected consequence of the ineffective investigation of this case so far, which was conducted slowly and without the necessary critical distance towards the members of the Police Administration," the statement reads.
The HRA indicates that the state prosecutor Knežević determined that:
- Jovan Grujičić was brought by suspected police officers from the Special Psychiatric Hospital in Dobrota to the Podgorica Security Center;
- that he was abused on the first floor of the CB in Podgorica, in the premises of the Criminal Police Station for the Suppression of Blood Offenses (115-117): "In order to get an appropriate confession or notification from him, they put pressure on him and inflicted certain physical injuries on him , as stated in the findings and opinions of medical experts";
- that almost all the suspects confirmed that they were in charge, that they knew about the bringing and questioning of Grujičić or that they actively participated in it,
- but, due to the fact that no one admitted the crime, and the injured party could not recognize them, she concluded that "it is obvious that the reported persons did not do it", so she transferred the case to the register of cases against unknown persons.
The HRA states that "the list of suspects included Miloš Vučinić, head of the Criminal Police Department in CB Podgorica and Srđan Korać, head of the Criminal Police Station for Suppression of Blood Offenses and Domestic Violence, as well as inspectors Vukašin Leković, Dalibor Ljekočević, Bojan Vujačić, Nemanja Vujošević, Radoman Vujičić, Miodrag Jovović, Ivan Peruničić and Ljubisav Striković, who dealt with Grujičić and his case on the day he was tortured in CB Podgorica. delivered to Jovan Grujičić's mother the documentation of the Police Administration regarding his deprivation of liberty.
"HRA reminds that torture is carried out by the immediate perpetrators, who strip their victims naked, hit them with boxing gloves and batons on the body and especially on the soles of the feet, apply electric shocks, psychologically abuse them with threats, insults, lies and insults, pour cold water on them and the like. would force them to give false statements on the first floor of CB Podgorica, as well as all those who expressly or tacitly consent to such actions or who incite such actions. This is the definition of torture from the CC of Montenegro and international human rights treaties to which we also point which we insist on. HRA believes that it is not possible that the competent managers in the police did not know and did not agree to the abuse of three people, in the offices on the first floor of CB Podgorica, which was synchronized and organized in order to force false statements and "solve" the case, and at the same time covered up the real perpetrators of the criminal acts of planting explosives on the house of Duško Golubović and the cafe bar Grand", they said.
The HRA further reminds "that in the investigation of the case of the so-called bombings, officers of the CB Podgorica Police Administration, by extorting statements from Marko Boljević, Benjamin Mugoša and Jovan Grujičić, tried to blame innocent people for crimes they did not commit, and thus protect those who committed them actually performed.
"Nevertheless, due to circumstances that were beyond the reach of the police, both suspects for the 'bombing attacks', Benjamin Mugoša and Jovan Grujičić, were cleared of any suspicion that they had committed criminal acts. Judge Nenad Vujanović, in the case of the defendant Grujičić, also acquitted him of his forced testimony, while medical experts determined that the victims were tortured with blows and electric shockers. Foreign experts, hired by HRA with the help of the UN Fund for Victims of Torture, in their detailed reports, found that Boljević and Grujičić, in addition to traces of physical torture, also had post-traumatic stress disorder syndrome as a consequence," says the HRA.
This NGO expects from the director of the Police Administration Zoran Brđanin and acting VDT Maja Jovanović concrete, impartial and thorough actions in the direction of punishing this case of "triple torture and preventing the Montenegrin police from continuing to abuse people and extort statements".
"HRA reminds that the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) warned in two previous reports that 'the use of abuse is an accepted practice among criminal inspectors',[1] and that for years they have been warning about the unacceptable use of electric shocks and that in the Security Center Podgorica found 'non-standard objects' such as baseball bats. The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), an organization that brings together 160 centers for the rehabilitation of torture victims in 76 countries, announced in August 2021 that "the official investigation and medical and legal evaluation of the case of reported torture against Jovan Grujičić and Marko Boljević is incompatible with the obligation to conduct an effective investigation under Article 12 of the Convention against Torture, which is defined by the Istanbul Protocol".
They also add that the HRA reported this case to the UN Committee against Torture yesterday, which will soon have the consideration of the situation in Montenegro on its agenda.
"An effective investigation into the reports of torture in this case was previously requested by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Mr. Nils Meltzer and the Vice President of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Ms. Elina Štejnerte, as well as the Coordinator of the UN System in Montenegro, Fiona McLooney, the European Commission and the US Embassy and Great Britain," the press release concludes.
Bonus video:
