Romani man beaten by police in Belgrade, Yugoslavia

15 May 1998

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) reported on May 17, 1998, that on May 7, a 22-year-old Romani man named Krsta Kalinović had been detained by police in the Voždovac district of Belgrade, where three officers subjected him to physical and psychological abuse. According to the HLC, officers N., K., and K. threatened to put Mr Kalinović in prison and to force his wife into prostitution if he did not provide information about which individuals in his home neighbourhood of Marinkova Bara were engaged in criminal activity. They then beat him on his arms, knees and back with nightsticks, hit him on the head with a chair and repeatedly banged his head against a wall. Finally, the officers placed a bag over his head and beat him until he lost consciousness. The HLC is filing a criminal complaint against the three police officers.

(Humanitarian Law Center)