CAT/C/42/D/261/2005
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1962. Four families resided there permanently, while the majority of its inhabitants were
displaced Roma from Kosovo, who moved into the settlement in 1999 after their property in
Kosovo was destroyed. On 6 June 2000, the “Antena’” inhabitants were notified in writing by
the Municipality of New Belgrade of its decision of 29 May 2000 to demolish the settlement, and
that they should vacate the area by the following evening.2 The inhabitants did not contest the
Municipality’s decision but being very poor and unable to find another place to live at short
notice, they did not leave. On 8 June 2000, at approximately 10 a.m., representatives of the
Municipality of New Belgrade and a group of some ten uniformed policemen arrived at the
settlement in order to execute the eviction order. Shortly after the bulldozers started demolishing
the settlement, a group of five-six plainclothes policemen, all of whom, with the exception of the
van driver who wore a white suit, were dressed in black, arrived at the scene in a blue Iveco
cargo van with a police license plate number BG 611-542. 3 They did not produce any
identification documents and were not wearing any insignias. In the course of the eviction, the
plainclothes policemen hit a number of the Roma while the uniformed policemen abused them
with racist language. The complainant was twice slapped and hit with fists in the head and in the
kidneys by a plainclothes officer who was gripping the complainant’s left arm, while the latter
was holding his 4 year old son with the right arm. The child was also hit but did not sustain
serious injury. The complainant fled the settlement and sought medical treatment for his injuries.
The medical certificates of 12 June 2000 stated that he had a haematoma under his left arm and
he was advised to see a specialist for an examination of his abdomen.
2.2 As a result of this operation, the complainant’s home and personal belongings, including a
mini van, were completely destroyed and he was left homeless together with his wife and three
minor children. The first six months after the incident, the complainant and his family lived in a
tent on the site of the destroyed settlement. As of 2002, they have lived in the basement of a
building where the complainant works on the heating system and maintenance.
2.3 On 12 August 2000, the HLC filed a complaint supported, among others, by five witness
statements with the Fourth Municipal Public Prosecutor of Belgrade claiming that the
complainant’s mistreatment by unidentified perpetrators and the conduct of the police in the
course of the settlement’s demolition breached article 54 (causing light bodily injury) and article
66 (abuse of authority) of the Criminal Code.
2.4 According to article 19, paragraph 1, of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of
Serbia (CPC), formal criminal proceedings can be instituted at the request of an authorized
prosecutor, that is, either the public prosecutor or the victim. All criminal offences established by
law are prosecuted ex officio by the state through the public prosecutor service, unless the law
explicitly states otherwise, which is not the case as far as articles 54 and 66 of the Criminal Code
are concerned. According to articles 241, paragraph 1, and 242, paragraph 3, of the CPC, a
formal judicial investigation can only be undertaken against an individual, whose identity has
been established. When the identity of the alleged perpetrator of a criminal offence is unknown,
2
The explanation given for the adoption of the decision was that the settlement has been situated
on state-owned land and its inhabitants did not have legal title to reside there at the time in
question.
3
According to the testimony of another witness, one M., the number of the van’s license plate is
BG 611-549.