Private Lawsuit Filed after Public Prosecutor Ended Investigation into Police Brutality in Kicevo
03 April 2006
According to information provided to the ERRC by the Kumanovo- based non-governmental organisation National Roma Centrum (NRC), a private lawsuit has been filed at the Primary Court of Kicevo, after investigation into the involvement of two police officers in an incident of brutality against three men ended when the Public Prosecutor refused to proceed.
On 30 June 2005, two police officers, Kire Bogoeski, Medin Letniku, in their capacity as officials, took three men, Ramadanovski Idaver, Imerovski Juksen, and Mamudovski Abdi, into custody without providing justification or informing the men of their legal rights. While in police custody at the station, the men allegedly suffered cruel and degrading treatment including insults and beatings inflicted with rubber truncheons. Medical reports confirm that the three men sustained injuries to the head, neck, shoulders and back, resulting in bruising, lacerations and blood loss. After approximately one hour, the men were reportedly released.
The three injured persons pressed criminal charges against the officers through the Public Prosecutor's office in Kicevo, in accordance with Article 143 of the Macedonian Criminal Code (maltreatment while on duty). The Public Prosecutor dropped the investigation on the basis that the stated facts and ev idence suggest the injuries did not occur while in police custody but rather at another time. The injured persons were notified that the investigation had been dropped and that they could further pursue the case, if they so wished, by initiating a private lawsuit at the Primary Court in Kicevo. Subsequently, the three men submitted, within the proper timeframe, a Subsidiary Accusation Act to the Primary Court of Kicevo. The hearing was set to take place on 9 March 2006. As 20 March 2006, NRC reported that the proceedings have been delayed becuase the accused officers did not show up at the hearing.
The ERRC is currently involved with local partners in a project challenging racial discrimination in Macedonia and Croatia, funded under the EU CARDS programme, with matching funding from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).
(ERRC, NRC)
