Human Rights Action (HRA) announced today that the decision of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT) in Podgorica to dismiss the criminal complaint in the so-called Zlatarska Street case, proclaims the systemic failure of the State Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro to ensure punishment of obvious police torture
"On February 9, 2026, the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica dismissed the criminal complaint in the so-called Zlatarska Street case, for the police abuse of lawyer Branimir Vukčević and Canadian citizen Momčilo Baranin on October 24, 2015, with the explanation that the criminal prosecution was statute-barred in 2021. The Human Rights Action emphasizes that this decision proclaims the systemic failure of the State Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro to ensure punishment of obvious police torture, which the whole world could see, thanks to the video of the Vijesti journalist," the statement states.
The HRA added that the decision to impose a statute of limitations on criminal prosecution comes after both the Constitutional Court of Montenegro and the European Court of Human Rights determined that the State Prosecutor's Office failed to conduct the investigation in accordance with international standards.
"The injured party, Branimir Vukčević, will file a complaint against this decision with the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, with a request to qualify the criminal act as torture, i.e. unlawful punishment, and to extend the statute of limitations until 2035. On October 24, 2015, at around 10:30 p.m., in the center of Podgorica, on Miljana Vukova Street (so-called Zlatarska Street), Baranin and Vukčević were beaten by police officers. This occurred after the police broke up a protest organized by the Democratic Front," the statement reads.
The HRA said that citizens Baranin and Vukčević did not participate in the riots, did not offer resistance, were not deprived of their liberty, nor were any misdemeanor or criminal proceedings ever initiated against them.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) said that the police officers forced Baranin and Vukčević to lie on the sidewalk, beat them, insulted and cursed them, kicked them, and then, after inflicting physical injuries on them (later confirmed by medical documentation), left them lying on the street without providing assistance.
"Despite the gravity of the allegations and the evidence, the police officers who committed the abuse have not been identified to this day, more than ten years after the event. The case remained in the investigative phase for a decade, only for the criminal charges to finally be dismissed – not due to a lack of evidence, but due to the statute of limitations resulting from the failure of the competent authorities to act. It is also scandalous that the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica kept the case open for more than four years after the date it now claims the statute of limitations had expired. Of course, the last action in the case was taken in 2021, after the European Court of Human Rights published its judgment in the case of Baranin and Vukčević v. Montenegro, in which it found a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights," HRA said.
The NGO said that they had filed constitutional complaints on behalf of Baranin and Vukčević on January 22, 2017.
"On June 21, 2017, the Constitutional Court of Montenegro unanimously found a violation of the constitutional prohibition of torture due to the ineffective investigation of police abuse – for the first time in its practice. Despite this historic decision, the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica never conducted an investigation in accordance with minimum European standards. Subsequently, on March 11, 2021, the European Court of Human Rights found that Montenegro had failed to conduct a prompt, thorough, independent and effective investigation, nor had it ensured public oversight of the investigation, which further deepened impunity. The Court specifically pointed out that state authorities had not eliminated the shortcomings of the investigation even after the Constitutional Court's decision, that not all witnesses had been heard, that everyone who was on the ground had not been questioned, that the Forensic Center had not been involved, and that the injured parties had not been provided with adequate participation in the investigation. The Court also emphasized the complete dependence of the prosecutor's office on police structures that were in the same chain of command as the suspected police officers, which excluded independence investigation," the statement said.
HRA said that the European Court of Human Rights, to which a complaint was also filed because the state failed to conduct an adequate investigation even after the Constitutional Court's decision, clearly stated that the payment of monetary damages and disciplinary punishment of a manager cannot replace the obligation to conduct an effective investigation.
"That is precisely why the European Court of Human Rights concluded that Baranin and Vukčević, despite exercising their right to compensation, did not lose their status as victims. Responsibility for this institutional failure lies with the acting state prosecutors in this case – Danka Ivanović Đerić and Slađana Španjević Volkov, who were the first and longest acting in the case, as well as the state prosecutors who got involved after the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights – Vukas Radonjić, Haris Šabotić and Romina Vlahović. Of course, the heads of the Police Administration and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are also responsible, who did not find it necessary to ensure the detection and punishment of the members of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ) who committed acts of torture. The Director of the Police Administration at the time of the incident was Slavko Stojanović (2013-2018), followed by Veselin Veljović, Zoran Brđanin and Lazar Šćepanović, while the Ministers of Internal Affairs were Raško Konjević (2013-2016), Goran Danilović, Melvudin Nuhodžić, Sergej Sekulović, Filip Adžić and Danilo Šaranović," the statement reads.
The HRA said that although the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ) was disbanded in 2019, its (unpunished) members are still employees of the Police Directorate today.
"The dismissal of the criminal complaint due to the statute of limitations in a case in which the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights have already established a violation of the prohibition of torture is a serious defeat for the rule of law in Montenegro. This is especially true if we consider that the torture of the people of Kolašin on the main road in Podgorica that same evening, also by members of the SAJ, also remained unpunished. The investigation into the torture of Milorad Mijo Martinović was particularly ineffective, regardless of the punishment of two SAJ members who took the blame for the torture that twenty of them carried out on Martinović, while also destroying his vehicle on Jovana Tomaševića Street," the statement reads.
HRA said that Montenegro must ensure effective investigations of torture if it wants to become a state with the rule of law and join the EU.
"Paying compensation from the budget, which is filled with the money of all (innocent) citizens, is not sufficient and cannot replace the individual responsibility of police officers responsible for torture - this was clearly communicated to Montenegro by the European Court of Human Rights - "because otherwise it would be possible for officials to abuse the rights of those under their control with practical impunity" (judgment Baranin and Vukčević v. Montenegro, paragraph 108). The application of standards from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is the final criterion for Montenegro's accession to the European Union," the HRA stated.
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