The non-governmental organization Action for Human Rights (HRA) calls on the supreme state prosecutor, Milorad Marković, to determine the responsibility of all state prosecutors who, through their omissions in police torture cases, contributed to the avoidance of policemen's responsibility, both in the case of policemen Boris Andušić and Zoran Backović, and in other cases. what will be done to prevent the same practice from continuing.
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"It's today indictment filed against police officers Boris Andušić and Zoran Backović for extorting a statement from Milo Jovanović in January 2021. HRA welcomes progress in this case of police torture, once again substantiated photos from the SKY application. We expect the State Prosecutor's Office to approach the remaining cases containing serious allegations of police torture, especially from 2020-2021, with the same commitment. year. It is necessary to examine, in accordance with the recommendations of the CPT, the responsibility of the management personnel in the police, superior to the immediate perpetrators, who were obliged to prevent, that is, to process every form of torture. On the other hand, it is necessary to examine the responsibility of the state prosecutors, who made the investigations of police torture ineffective and enabled the perpetrators to avoid responsibility", the announcement emphasizes.
The HRA added that in 2021, Milo Jovanović reported that on January 22 of that year he was tortured by police officers, who entered the apartment where he was located and conducted a search, in order to force a confession about certain criminal acts.
"He states that he did not offer any resistance, but was immediately knocked to the floor and several masked police officers (with phantoms) hit him on the back with their fists. On that occasion, he was injured in the nose. After some time, he was transferred to another room, where the harassment continued with trampling with boots on his legs and hands, and blows on his genitals and in the rib area. He was then transferred from Tivat to Podgorica, to the premises of the police in the City mall (premises of the Anti-Crime Department), where the abuse continued," HRA said.
They stated that the photo of Jovanović confirming the torture, which shows a clear injury to his nose - which he talked about as early as 2021, is found in correspondence from the SKY application.
"However, the absence of an effective investigation and the prosecution's will to obtain the necessary evidence at key moments led to the fact that over three years there was almost no progress in this case. The HRA has already warned that the failures of the originally responsible prosecutor Ivana Vuksanović in the investigation indicate deliberate helping police officers to avoid responsibility. On May 13, 2023, the Prosecutor's Council determined that the complaint against prosecutor Vuksanović was founded, because she did not act in the case in a timely manner, after which the case was transferred to prosecutor Nađa Martinović, and then the investigation began. The investigation was completed by state prosecutor Marko Ivanovic, who filed today's indictment," the statement reads.
The HRA said that in this case, the Constitutional Court concluded in April 2024 that due to the ineffective investigation of the prosecutor Vuksanović (the investigation was neither conducted urgently nor thoroughly nor independently), Jovanović's material and procedural aspects of the right to inviolability of physical and psychological integrity were violated. , and the prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment.
"The Constitutional Court confirmed 'beyond a reasonable doubt' the credibility of the allegations of abuse by police officers. The conclusion was drawn on the basis of 'a set of indications, evidence, as well as indisputable, sufficiently serious, clear and consistent assumptions, such as the resulting physical injuries that were ascertained in the Emergency center, and for which the medical expert stated that they could have occurred during his deprivation of liberty' case, as well as in others, determine the responsibility of all state prosecutors who contributed to the evasion of the responsibility of police officers through their omissions in cases of police torture, and announce what will be done to prevent the same practice from continuing," the HRA statement concluded.
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