The police protected a future colleague?

The protector of human rights and freedoms found that the police in Bijelo Polje acted untimely in the case of a thirteen-year-old boy who, according to his parents, was abused and harassed by two adult youths.

The boy's parent EH claimed in a complaint to the ombudsman, "Vijesti" and the competent authorities that the police acted untimely in order to enable one of the applicants to be employed in the police because in the meantime he was accepted to the Police Academy competition.

He substantiated his claims with the fact that the police filed a misdemeanor report against him four months later, instead of within the legal deadline of 60 days, which is why the court rejected the request.

Registered MM he was admitted to the Police Academy competition on December 28 last year, and a day later, with a delay of almost five months, the police filed a misdemeanor report against him.

The protector could not give a final assessment in this part, due to the inability to establish all the relevant facts, so he referred the parent to the possibility of filing a criminal complaint with the basic prosecutor's office in that city.

In his complaint to the Protector, the parent stated that two adult men abused his child several times and that he reported everything to the Bijelo Polje Security Department, but that the police did not respond to the first report, while they took measures on the second only after four months. He also claimed that the police informed him that they issued a warning to those persons and acted contrary to the regulations, primarily the Internal Affairs Act, as well as that the police were motivated not to prosecute the attackers of his child at the time of the competition for police officers, which is the result was the employment of one of them and the rejection of the request to initiate misdemeanor proceedings before the Misdemeanor Court in that municipality.

The parent of the minor believes that irreparable damage has been caused to the child. He claims that on August 4 of last year, two men drove a vehicle towards the child and on that occasion cursed and threatened him, and the case was reported to the police on the same day, when the thirteen-year-old was questioned by the police in the presence of his parents.

The alleged attackers were interrogated by the police four days later, and on August 9, the prosecutor on duty was informed about the case, who declared that there was no criminal offense for which the prosecution was undertaken ex officio.

OB Bijelo Polje stated in their statement to the Protector that they determined that it was necessary to collect information from a person who could provide useful information, but that he was not available to officials until December 18. They claimed that at the end of December they held additional consultations with the prosecutor on duty and that after reviewing the case, he declared that there were no elements of a criminal offense in the case, so a day later, on December 29, they filed a misdemeanor report against MM

The police state that the Misdemeanor Court submitted a decision rejecting the request, because it was not submitted within 60 days of learning about the misdemeanor, so at the end of January they filed an appeal with the Higher Misdemeanor Court in Podgorica. The High Court in April of this year rejected the appeal as unfounded.

The protector assessed that the complaint indicates the illegal behavior of police officers, which resulted in the violation of the rights of the child.

In the opinion signed by the Deputy Protector Mirjana Radovic it is stated that the right to a fair trial foresees the right to access the court and the right to a procedure of appropriate quality.

"From the submitted statement, it follows that the Court for Misdemeanors did not decide on the merits, that is, it did not establish the existence of the responsibility of the acting official, bearing in mind that the request in question was dismissed because it was not submitted within 60 days of learning about the offense and the perpetrator in accordance with Article 156, paragraph 1, point 1 of the Law on Misdemeanors, already after 4 months and 20 days", the opinion states.

In the specific case, the opinion concludes, due to the untimely actions of police officers, the complainant is prevented from having the Court for Misdemeanors, in the procedure provided for by law, decide on the merits of the existence of the police officer's responsibility in relation to his minor child.

"For a different conclusion, the statements from the statement of OB Bijelo Polje, from which it emerges that the police officers assessed that it was necessary to collect information from the participants of the event who could provide useful information in order to confirm the allegations of the report, are not of any influence, given the fact that previously and in a timely manner, the prosecutor on duty stated that in the specific case there are no elements of a criminal offense for which prosecution is undertaken ex officio, and in view of the fact that the Bijelo Polje Police Department was able to timely submit a request for initiation of misdemeanor proceedings to the Court for Misdemeanors and at the same time make a proposal on the evidence to be presented, including the proposal for the presentation of evidence by hearing witnesses, in accordance with the Law on Misdemeanors", concludes the opinion.

The Protector recommended the Police Directorate, i.e. OB Bijelo Polje, to act in the future in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Internal Affairs, which prescribes that the performance of police work is based on the principles of a democratic society, namely legality, professionalism, depoliticization, cooperation, proportionality in the application of powers, efficiency , impartiality, non-discrimination, timeliness, integrity and hierarchical subordination. Also, they recommended that they act consistently in accordance with the provisions of Article 153 and 154 of the Law on Misdemeanors, which prescribe the deadline for initiating proceedings in the competent court, as well as the content of the request.

The boy's parent also complained to the Minister of the Interior, Danilo Šaranović, about the actions of the police. In the letter, he stated that his child was attacked for the first time in May 2023, and then in August, requesting that the responsibility of the police officers be established because, he claims, by undertaking powers that do not belong to them, and applying the powers for which they have a legal basis in a wrong way, caused irreparable harm to the child.