Belgrade Prosecutors Seek Detention for Three Suspects
Suspects B. M. (45), N. P. (32) and S. S. (35) stayed silent at the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office. Two men were injured in an abandoned building in Belgrade.
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade has questioned three men suspected of aggravated murder in attempted form and asked the pretrial judge to order their detention. The suspects, B. M. (45), N. P. (32) and S. S. (35), stayed silent during questioning, exercising their legal right not to present a defense. We found no court decision on detention in the sources we reviewed.
According to the prosecutors’ statement, the attack took place on the night between October 19 and 20 in an abandoned building in Belgrade. The address and exact time were not released. Two men were injured, identified in the statement only by the initials N. M. and N. J.
What happened in the abandoned building?
It began, the statement says, with an argument over who would sleep where. The prosecutors describe their suspicion this way:
“There are grounds to suspect that the three suspects first got into a verbal argument with the injured parties N.M. and N.J. over the choice of where each would sleep, after which the verbal argument grew into a physical fight, and the suspects struck the injured parties several times in the head and body with their hands, feet and wooden objects, inflicting serious bodily injuries on them.”
The suspects then left the premises. In the morning, N. M. walked to the Sveti Sava hospital on his own and asked for help, and an ambulance took both men to the University Clinical Centre of Serbia. N. J. was found to have life-threatening serious injuries, and N. M. serious injuries.
Why are prosecutors seeking detention?
The order to conduct an investigation charges all three with aggravated murder in attempted form. Prosecutors proposed detention for all three on four grounds:
- risk of flight
- risk that they would repeat the offense within a short period
- the offense carries a prison sentence of more than 10 years
- the manner of commission or the gravity of the consequences has caused public unrest that could jeopardize a smooth and fair trial
The pretrial judge of the Higher Court in Belgrade will rule on the proposal. Until a final verdict, the three are considered suspects, not perpetrators.
