The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the police. The CPT considered that the action taken to prevent ill-treatment by the police in light of the recommendations contained in the reports on the 2017 and 2021 visits was not sufficient. The delegation also reviewed the effectiveness of investigations by the prosecutorial authorities and the Internal Control Service of the Ministry of the Interior into complaints of
ill-treatment of detained persons by police officers.
During the visit to the pre-trial detention facilities of Belgrade, Novi Sad and Subotica District Prisons and to Sremska Mitrovica Penal Correctional Institution, the conditions of detention, level of overcrowding and regime offered to detained persons were assessed. A targeted visit was also carried out to the closed regime section of the Kruševac Educational and Correctional Facility in order to examine the use of means of restraint and segregation measures in respect of juvenile offenders.
The delegation held consultations with Bratislav Gašić, Minister of Interior, Danilo Stevandić, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Interior and Dejan Carević, Director of the Administration for the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions at the Ministry of Justice, as well as with senior officials from the above-mentioned Ministries. Meetings were also held with two deputies of the Republic State Prosecutor, Zoran Pašalić, Ombudsman and Head of the National Preventive Mechanism as well as with representatives of various non-governmental organisations.
At the end of the visit, the delegation provided the Serbian authorities with its preliminary observations.
The visit was carried out by the following CPT members:
- Nico Hirsch (Head of Delegation)
- Juan Carlos Da Silva
- Alexander Minchev
- Kristina Pardalos
- Asbjørn Rachlew
They were supported by Christian Loda of the CPT Secretariat and assisted by one expert, Boštjan Škrlec, Vice-President of Eurojust and former Director General at the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Slovenia.
The delegation visited the following places of deprivation of liberty:
Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior
- Metropolitan Police Headquarters, 29 November Street, Belgrade
- Stari Grad Police Station, Belgrade
- Novi Beograd Police Station, Belgrade
- Headquarters of the Service for combatting Organised Crime (SBPOK), Belgrade
- Zemun Police Station, Belgrade
- Novi Sad District Police Station
- Ruma Police Station
Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of Justice (remand sections only)
- Belgrade District Prison
- Novi Sad District Prison
- Sremska Mitrovica Penal Correctional Institution
- Subotica District Prison
- Kruševac Educational Correctional Facility for juvenile offenders (closed regime unit)
