The recent acquittal of five police inspectors by the Basic Court in Podgorica, who were accused of using extreme violence to extort a statement from Marko Boljević at the Podgorica police station, highlights a concerning approach to addressing torture. This perspective appears to be solely critical of the victim while accepting the statements of civil servants at face value, even those of colleagues of the accused.

This information was shared by Human Rights Action (HRA), which stated that “the court’s approach to police torture encourages perpetrators and dissuades victims from coming forward to report such incidents.”

It was announced yesterday that inspectors Danilo Grbović, Dalibor Ljekočević, Bojan Vujačić, Ivan Peruničić, and Nemanja Vujošević were found not guilty of charges claiming they abused Boljević to extract a confession.

HRA anticipates that the initial ruling will undergo scrutiny during the appeal process “adhering to international standards regarding the handling of torture claims,” as this aligns with Montenegro’s commitments outlined in its Constitution and international agreements, and is essential for meeting criteria for joining the European Union.

“This case is particularly significant since it revolved around the coercive extraction of testimony purportedly to falsely incriminate individuals in the planting of explosives at the residence of state security officer Duško Golubović and at the Grand store. The plan faltered once the extorted statement was disclosed, and additional evidence negated the efforts, leaving both explosive planting cases unresolved. What has been clarified is that based on the coerced and inaccurate testimony of Marko Boljević, who endured torture, an attempt was made to misattribute responsibility to those uninvolved in the incident (Jovan Grujičić and Benjamin Mugoša). Now, nearly five years post the forced confession in May 2020 at the Podgorica Security Center, no police officer has faced charges for this,” the statement articulates.

Judge Larisa Mijušković Stamatović, who rendered the initial verdict after a two-year trial, reportedly criticized Boljević for not reporting the torture on the same evening it occurred, but instead waiting “until the following day,” thus citing a breach of the “principle of timeliness” on the victim’s part, which, according to the NGO, is “unrecognized in international practices regarding the prosecution of torture.”

“The first-instance court’s conclusion that torture at the police station was unproven was based on questionable reasoning: that an expert report indicating injuries consistent with the reported abuse could have arisen within 72 hours, suggesting they might have occurred elsewhere and not during the prolonged ‘treatment’ at the police station; that injuries located not on the head but behind the neck and under clothing should have been visible to the state prosecutor Ivana Vuksanović, who interrogated Boljević, and who testified that she did not notice them; and that the same injuries ought to have been detected by colleagues of the accused police officers, polygraph examiners, who also attested that they did not observe them,” stated the HRA.

They noted that an independent forensic expert and the forensic medical examination committee from the University of Montenegro confirmed that the injuries on Boljević’s body were consistent with his account of the torture he endured.

“It was concluded that the injuries were the result of at least 11 strikes with fists, feet, and blunt mechanical objects. Three internationally recognized experts compiled a detailed report on Boljević’s examination, establishing with a ‘high degree of certainty’ that the documented injuries correspond to a report of torture. Judge Mijušković-Stamatović dismissed this report on the grounds that it lacked an order from a domestic court or prosecutor’s office with specific instructions detailing the required expert testimony. We expect that the Higher Court will critically and impartially review this verdict upon appeal, with an understanding of international standards against torture,” the statement concludes.

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