Another Romani man beaten by police in Kočani, Eastern Macedonia

05 January 1999

On October 26, 1998, Mr Šakir Šakirov (49), from Kočani, went to the local post office to find out who had bought the phone line from his family house (the phone line having been sold by his ex-wife in his absence). According to his testimony to the ERRC, Šakirov called the new owner, asked him to return the phone line, and left. After the call, the man reportedly called the police and told them Šakirov was threatening him. Out in the streets of Kočani two policemen stopped Šakirov and took him in their van to the police station with the explanation that, allegedly, he was invited there. In the police station, one of the officers told another "If you do not beat him, I will". They took Šakirov into an office where one of them held him while the other hit him several times with a baseball stick. The policemen then took turns in beating Šakirov for the next thirty minutes. After the beating the policemen tried to persuade him to confess to having threatened his ex-wife and the new phone-line owner. Šakirov was held in the police station from 9 to 11am. When he was released, he went to the hospital where he was given first aid, and the medical certificate issued there records bruises on Šakirov's legs, thighs, arms and back. With the help of a lawyer provided for by the ERRC, a criminal complaint against unidentified police officers, as well as a civil action for moral damages, were filed against the Macedonian state and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. (ERRC)