After suspect Alija Balijagić killed his brother and sister, Milenko and Jovan Madžgalj, in the village of Sokolac in Bijelo Polje, criticism began that the police did not react in a timely manner. Two days later, the police announced that they had been notified of the double murder on October 25, at 21:10 p.m., and immediately after that, the entire Bijelo Polje police force was deployed. However, word that someone had been killed reached the ambulance service much later.
"The report from the Emergency Department in Bijelo Polje dated October 25.10.2024, 22, shows that they received a call from the police at 15:22 p.m., that a firearm and murder had been used in the town of Sokolac, and that the Emergency Team was dispatched and provided assistance. They arrived at the scene at 45:XNUMX p.m., where the deaths of the aforementioned persons were confirmed, without examining the bodies," the High Court in Bijelo Polje said.
Situations in the field, in which firearms are used, show that the police and emergency services react much faster, explains "Vijesti" journalist Jelena Jovanović.
"We know how long it takes to get from the center of Bijelo Polje to the village, or rather the hamlet where it happened. We have to take that part into account, but I repeat, if all the data is correct, then someone must explain precisely when and why the emergency medical service was called," she says.
When asked how it is possible that the police, after receiving a report of a murder, only notify the emergency services an hour and five minutes later, criminologist and professor at the Faculty of Law Velimir Rakočević says that at that moment there was information that it was an armed criminal on the move.
"Because it was assumed that this person was armed, barricaded in this residential building, which means that the primary goal here was, in my opinion, to possibly neutralize the resistance of this person in order to create conditions so that other services, including the emergency medical service, could then access the scene."
For more than three weeks, the Police Directorate did not respond to questions from Television Vijesti about why the emergency services were notified an hour later, and TV Vijesti remained without an answer even after contacting Police Director Lazar Šćepanović directly.
"One piece of information is missing, and that is when exactly the police arrived at the scene. We all know that the police were there before, we know that they were visiting, that a male person was roaming around, but we don't know when they returned after the sister who was killed, now deceased, called the police. I don't know how long it took them to arrive," said Jelena Jovanović.
"That person had previously attacked the police. That was the key reason why they were not allowed to call the emergency medical service immediately because they would have been a suitable target," Rakočević said.
Due to inadequate handling of this case, police management initiated disciplinary proceedings against 10 police officers, including three responsible officers.
After the report aired today in Vijesti at half past six, the Police Directorate responded and provided the previously requested answers.
They state that on October 25th of last year, at 21:10 PM, the duty service at the Bijelo Polje Security Department received a call from an unknown number, during which a female person said only: "Kill my brother," after which the connection was disconnected.
They state that the police called the number several times after that, but it was disconnected.
After identifying the caller, the police were immediately sent to Sokolac, where upon arriving at the Madžgalja family home, they determined that it was a double murder, which the Emergency Services were notified of at 21:52 p.m.
They emphasize that the murder scene is about 30 kilometers away from the police station in Bijelo Polje, of which about seven to eight kilometers are on a country road.
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