The acquittal of the Basic Court in Podgorica for the proven torture of Benjamin Mugoša by the Podgorica police shows that Montenegro is not able to systematically respond to police torture, the Action for Human Rights (HRA) announced today.
"This can cost Montenegro a lot, because one of the conditions for the country's entry into the European Union is precisely the effective protection of citizens from police torture, its effective punishment and the establishment of the responsibility of superiors in the police hierarchy. In the case of Benjamin Mugoša, none of that since May 2020 until now, in 2024, the responsibility of the direct perpetrators of organized police torture for the purpose of extorting testimony has not been ensured," the HRA press release points out.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) added that they expect the state prosecutor's office, under the new leadership of VDT Milorad Marković, to finally thoroughly approach the investigation of organized extortion of statements in the Montenegrin police.
"Due to allegedly insufficient evidence that incriminates police inspector Dalibor Ljekočević for extorting a statement from Benjamin Mugoša on May 27, 2020, the judge of the Basic Court in Podgorica, Ivana Becić, acquitted him of guilt, although she indisputably established that Mugoša was a victim of torture in the police building. Mugoša claimed all the time that he was tortured by several masked police officers, while only one of them was accused, whom Mugoša was able to recognize. in the area of the right eye and nose, as well as bruises and scratches from blows with fists, boxing gloves, and a kick, i.e. with a shod foot, thus confirming Mugošin's allegations from the torture report," the statement reads.
Police Inspector Dalibor Ljekočević was acquitted of the charge of extorting testimony from Benjamin Mugoša, the Basic Court in Podgorica announced on September 17.
Mugoša's representative, lawyer Damir Lekić, reacting to that decision of the Basic Court, said today that Mugoša was beaten while wearing phantoms, and that the court asked him to recognize them.
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HRA said that both the Committee against Torture of the United Nations (UN) and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) demanded that Montenegro effectively punish all cases of torture.
"However, there is no such thing if, in a case like this, the court finds beyond a doubt that there was torture, and it remains unpunished. Such irresponsible behavior may cost Montenegro entry into the European Union, since the same requirements are set in the final criteria for Chapter 23 ", they said from that NGO.
The HRA states that they continuously pointed out the omissions in the two-year investigation of this case, which was led by state prosecutor Snežana Šišević.
"Although her first reaction was quick, because she ordered a medical examination of the injuries as soon as she received the report of abuse, all other evidentiary actions were carried out with unjustified delay, contrary to the obligation of an efficient investigation. Mugoša was heard as a witness - the injured party for the first time only almost four months after torture, when he described the police officers who tortured him. However, the interrogation of the police officers began only in October 2020, 5 months after the torture, which made it possible for the perpetrators to reconcile their statements and prevent identification. The problem is that the videos from CB Podgorica were not collected in a timely manner. Although Mugoša reported that he was abused by several unknown persons, their identities have not been established to date, nor do we have any information that the prosecution is dealing with it at all," HRA said.
They state that the court acquitted Ljekočević, claiming that Mugoša gave an inaccurate description of him during the first hearing, while, as they said from HRA, it was not taken into account that Mugoša, as a victim of torture by multiple perpetrators, suffered extreme stress often causes inconsistent descriptions of offenders, when they can mix up multiple observed traits in different offenders.
"Neither Mugoša's psychiatric examination was ever undertaken, in accordance with the UN's Istanbul Protocol for conducting an effective investigation, which could have clarified such a situation. Also, the court's conclusion that Ljekočević does not fit Mugoša's description of an abuser because, among other things, he does not have an 'old man's accent similar to Zeta's ' and 'accentuates words correctly', we consider completely arbitrary. In the minutes of the main trial from 19 May 5, the Court itself stated that Ljekočević pronounced certain verbs 'poša', 'doša', 'kaza', 'otiša'... , which cannot be called correct, also, there was never an expert examination of his speech, nor was Mugoša asked to clarify what he meant by the description of the accent he gave," the HRA statement reads.
They also believe that the defense of Ljekočević was not fully confirmed by the police officers who allegedly cooperated with him that day.
"These and all other objections to the first-instance verdict will be found in the appeals of both the state prosecutor and the attorney of the injured Mugoša, and we expect them all to be thoroughly considered by the High Court. In the meantime, HRA expects that the state prosecution, under the new management, will finally approach the cases seriously organized coercion of testimony by torture in the Montenegrin police, especially in 2020," HRA said.
They say that the case of Benjamin Mugoša is directly related to the cases of abuse of Jovan Grujičić and Marko Boljević in order to extort testimony within the same investigation, the so-called bomb attack on the house of security service official Duško Golubović and the "Grand" bar, but also with the cases of coercion of statements from seven more victims by members of the CB Podgorica in three other so-called cases. bombings, namely:
- Stefan Marković (extortion of testimony for the bomb attack on the house of an officer of the Administration for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions);
- Stefan Popović, Aleksandar Dacić and Ćazim Turosković (extortion of testimony for the bomb attacks on Welder Pub and Štrudla);
- Izet Beriša, Emro Drini and Bat Stojanović (extortion of testimony for bomb attacks on a car, house and public bailiff's office).
"The trial of five police inspectors is ongoing for extorting a statement from Boljević, while we still expect someone to be charged for extorting a statement from Grujičić. Both domestic and international experts have confirmed that both were victims of torture," the HRA statement concluded.
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