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rupture of the aorta and the torn blood vessels surrounding the multiple bone
fractures. These injuries “were inflicted with a brandished, blunt and heavy object”.
2.2
According to the police report, the complainants’ son was found dead on the
sidewalk in front of building no. 2 at Pariske Komune Street in Novi Beograd on 19
April 1994. He had fallen out of the window of apartment no. 82 on the 10th floor of
the same building at 9.40 a.m. In an attempt to escape his arrest by the police, he had
connected several cables and had tied them to a radiator. When trying to descend to
the subjacent window on the ninth floor, the cables broke apart and N. N. fell on the
concrete pavement.
2.3
According to police inspector J. J., this incident was preceded by the following
events: On 19 April 1994, he and two other inspectors, Z. P. and M. L., went to
apartment no. 82 at 2, Pariske Komune Street to arrest the complainant on the basis of
a warrant, as he was suspected of having committed several property-related offences.
Through a slit above the threshold of the entrance door, they noticed a shadow in the
corridor. Assuming that N. N. was in the apartment, they unsuccessfully called on him
to open the door. After having ordered an intervention team to break the entrance
door, inspector J. J. warned N. N. that the police would forcibly enter the flat, if he
continued to refuse opening the door. J. J. then went to the eleventh floor and entered
the flat located directly above apartment no. 82. From a window, he saw N. N.
looking out of the window below. After having returned to apartment no. 82, J. J.
again called on N. N. to surrender, promising that he would not be subjected to
physical violence. The intervention team then broke the door of the apartment, where
they only found M. K., the girlfriend of the deceased, who was crying and stated that
N. N. had fallen out of the window. Looking out of the window, J. J. saw the body of
a man lying on the sidewalk.
2.4
The deceased was identified as N. N., based on documents found in one of his
pockets, as well as by M. K., and his death was established by a physician of the
Secretariat for Internal Affairs. At around 10:30 a.m., the investigating judge of the
Belgrade District Court, D. B., arrived together with the deputy public prosecutor of
the District of Belgrade (hereafter “deputy public prosecutor”), V. M., inspected “the
scene of the crime”, 1 interviewed M. K. and ordered that the body of the deceased be
sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for an autopsy.
2.5
The report of the investigating judge states that several police officers
informed him that N. N. had “categorically declined” to unlock the door after having
argued with the police for some time. When they entered the flat, the deceased “had
just jumped out of the window.” M. K. confirmed that N. N. had refused to open the
door. When she tried to snatch the keys of the apartment from his pocket, he told her
that he would rather escape through the window than to open the door. Although she
did not see what happened in the room from where N. N. had tried to escape, M. K.
concluded from his absence that he had jumped out of the window, when the
policemen entered the flat. She stated that there was no physical contact between N.
N. and the members of the police intervention team. Apart from the cables tied to the
radiator, the report mentions that a white three-socket extension cable was hanging on
a tree above the sidewalk where the corpse of the deceased was lying. One single- and
1
The term “scene of the crime” is used in the police report dated 19 April 1994.