Senjak case: torture claims point at UKP chief
A restaurant owner says several officers beat him inside UKP premises, while prosecutors stay silent on whether chief Marko Kricak is being questioned.
- A restaurant owner says that five to six officers beat him inside UKP premises, and that only one of them, chief Marko Kricak, identified himself, according to media reports.
- On May 29, the Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor's Office forwarded the interview records of four suspects to the basic prosecutor's office over suspicion of abuse and torture.
- The Third Basic Public Prosecutor's Office refuses to say whether the claims are being examined, citing protection of the pre-investigation phase.
- The case is tied to a May 12 killing at a Senjak restaurant and the arrest of a former Belgrade police chief.
The Senjak case has taken a new turn. The owner of the restaurant where a man was killed in early May has claimed, according to media reports, that he was subjected to physical violence during questioning inside the premises of the Criminal Police Directorate (UKP). He says five to six officers beat him, and that only one of them, UKP chief Marko Kricak, identified himself.
These statements should be read as one party’s allegations, not as established facts. Prosecutors have not confirmed them, nor have they said whether Kricak has been questioned in connection with the claims. In legal terms, these are assertions that still have to be tested, which is precisely why the next steps taken by the institutions matter so much.
According to the owner’s account, the treatment involved blows to the soles of his feet and his back with a belt, open-handed strikes to the body, and being made to wear a hood. As media quote him, the owner said: “Five or six officers beat me, and only one introduced himself, the UKP chief.” Whether these claims hold up will be shown only by the prosecutorial review.
What have prosecutors done so far?
The Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office said it had forwarded, on May 29, the interview records of four suspects to the competent basic prosecutor’s office, on grounds of suspicion of the criminal offence of abuse and torture. The office specified that “the part of the case file concerning the claims about police conduct has been forwarded to the competent basic public prosecutor’s office for further action”.
That is where public insight ends. The Third Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade declined to tell the media whether the torture allegations are being examined at all, citing protection of the pre-investigation phase. Invoking procedure is not necessarily improper, but it leaves the central question open: whether a senior police official, named in the complainant’s account, has been called to give a statement. For now, there is no answer.
Why is this case politically sensitive?
The context gives weight to every detail. The whole story is linked to the killing of Aleksandar Nesovic on May 12 at a Senjak restaurant, and to the subsequent arrest of former Belgrade police chief Veselin Milic. When the name of a senior police official and an allegation of torturing a citizen appear in the same file, the line between a criminal inquiry and a question of trust in institutions grows thin.
For now, little is known and much is being claimed. The complainant’s allegations are serious but unverified. Prosecutors have formally forwarded the file, yet stay silent on the substance. Marko Kricak, as UKP chief, is a public official whose name is being spoken in this case, while there is still no official word on his status in the proceedings. In cases involving alleged police violence, the speed and transparency of the review usually say more than any statement.
When the pre-investigation phase advances, will prosecutors say publicly whether the UKP chief has been questioned over these allegations?
