Tea Gorjanc Prelević, executive director of the NGO Action for Human Rights (HRA), expressed her protest over the fact that the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) did not, even after more than 10 months from the initiation of criminal proceedings for extorting a statement followed by severe police violence from the victim Marko Boljević suspended all criminal inspectors accused for that crime: Danilo Grbović, Bojan Vujačić, Ivan Peruničić, Dalibor Ljekočević and Nemanja Vujošević.
As the HRA states in its statement, it wrote a letter to the Minister of the Interior Filip Adzić and the Director of the Police Directorate Zoran Brđanin.
He adds that on Friday, March 3, 2023, the accused Nemanja Vujošević made two public appearances as a representative of the Police Administration on RTCG and TVE televisions regarding the accident that occurred in the Basic Court in Podgorica.
She pointed out that the postponement of the suspension and promotion of those accused of police torture to the representatives of the Police Administration indicates that, unfortunately, the multi-year recommendation of international organizations that torture must be condemned and suppressed from the highest positions of government has not been accepted at all.
"HRA was informed that in July 2022, Minister Adzić was forwarded the reasoned proposal of the head of CB Podgorica for the temporary removal of Danilo Grbović, Dalibor Ljekočević, Bojan Vujačić, Ivan Peruničić and Nemanja Vujošević, so we assumed that the suspension followed," says Gorjanc Prelevic.
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However, as he says, the fact that Vujošević, and probably the other accused, are still in the service even 10 months after the initiation of criminal proceedings for a criminal offense committed at work or in connection with work, is a direct violation of the Law on Internal Affairs of Montenegro and international standards for the prohibition of torture.
"Back in 2014, the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) expressly demanded from Montenegro that all civil servants who are under investigation for acts of abuse immediately remove themselves from their duties and remain so during the entire duration of the proceedings. The same Committee repeated the same Montenegro in May 2022. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) said the same in 2017. HRA expects the Minister of the Interior to explain why he postponed the suspension of Nemanja Vujošević and/or the other defendants. We expect the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Police Administration to identify all other civil servants who organized, directly carried out and covered up the torture of Marko Boljević, Benjamin Mugoš and Jovan Grujičić," said Tea Gorjanc Prelević.
She states that the start of the trial for the criminal offense of extorting a statement followed by severe violence by the police against the victim Marko Boljević, was postponed for the fifth time yesterday before the Basic Court in Podgorica. The next hearing is scheduled for the 6th. April 2023. years.
"This means that the start of this trial will be delayed for at least seven months due to the severe form of police torture, bearing in mind that the first hearing of the main hearing was scheduled for September 15, 2022. The hearing was postponed because the accused criminal inspectors of CB Podgorica did not attend it either. Danilo Grbović, Bojan Vujačić, Ivan Peruničić and Nemanja Vujošević, nor their lawyers, nor the competent state prosecutor Romina Vlahović. The only one present was the fifth defendant, inspector Dalibor Ljekočević, who was brought from custody on suspicion of drug trafficking." she states.
As the court is obliged, says Gorjanc Prelević, to take care that the proceedings are carried out efficiently, while respecting the right to a trial within a reasonable time, it remained unclear why the judge Larisa Stamatović Mijušković did not issue an order for the forced bringing of the accused, who, although properly summoned, did not justify their absence, nor why she did not sanction defense lawyers who did not attend the hearing.
"We remind you that in May 2020, Marko Boljević, Benjamin Mugoša and Jovan Grujičić were tortured by the police during the investigation of the "bombing attacks" on the house of state security officer Duško Golubović and the bar "Grand". is a criminal proceeding against criminal inspectors Danilo Grbović, Dalibor Ljekočević, Bojan Vujačić, Ivan Peruničić and Nemanja Vujošević. Ljekočević is accused of committing the same crime against Benjamin Mugoša, while there is still no indictment for the torture of Grujičić," she pointed out.
Action for Human Rights, she adds, follows these criminal proceedings and advocates for the investigation and punishment of torture in accordance with the international standards that bind Montenegro. We believe that the State Prosecutor's Office and the Police Directorate are obliged to thoroughly investigate the responsibility of not only the accused inspectors, but also the police leaders who coordinated the investigation of the bombings and were the superiors of the direct perpetrators of torture.
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