Belgrade Child Neurology and Psychiatry Clinic Emptied

Who decided to empty the Clinic for Neurology and Psychiatry for Children and Youth in Belgrade? According to the Ministry of Health, it was director Jelena Djordjevic, on the late afternoon of November 13. A source inside the institution gives a different account, and the question of where the one remaining patient will go is still open.

The Clinic is run by acting director Assistant Professor Dr Jelena Djordjevic. It operates around the clock, treats both outpatients and inpatients, and hosts classes for the Faculty of Medicine.

What does the Ministry of Health say?

On November 14, the Ministry answered questions from Nova.rs, and Tanjug also carried its statement. It says the director made the decision to evacuate on November 13, based on her own assessment that the building was not safe. The Ministry has not seen the findings of the experts that someone engaged privately. As far as it knows, the competent building inspectorate did not carry out any inspection or order any measures.

The same day, the Ministry says, it ordered urgent measures to protect patients and to continue their treatment at another institution with free capacity. The statement also says that “health care continues to be provided by the Clinic’s professional staff.” For patients who need heightened security, an official assessment by the Interior Ministry (MUP) is required, after a direct inspection of the space intended for their accommodation, with a signed and certified record.

The statement ends with a warning:

“At the same time, we warn of the risk that the unfounded harassment of the public by irresponsible individuals and by media prone to sensationalism may jeopardize the handling of security-sensitive persons by the competent authorities, who in such a situation may remain beyond the reach of justice and the law.”

That is how the Ministry of Health put it in its statement.

What does the source inside the Clinic claim?

An employee who spoke to Nova.rs says that about two weeks earlier he and his colleagues were told of a breakdown: a water pipe burst, part of the foundation cracked, and the ground subsided. The damage affected the part of the building that houses the Autism Center. A construction commission inspected the building, and the source describes what came out of that inspection:

“A commission of construction experts came out then and assessed the condition of the building. The conclusion, which is unofficial and which we were not able to see, is that this part of the Clinic is being relocated and will not be in use until further notice.”

Management first said that only the damaged section was being separated and that the rest of the Clinic would work normally. Some patients and staff from that section were moved during the previous week. Then, according to the source, an urgent order arrived on the afternoon of November 13 to discharge or transfer almost all patients, about 15 of them, both neurological and psychiatric. Some were taken to the “Dr Laza Lazarevic” clinic, but the sources do not say which other institutions took in children.

Where do the two versions part ways? The Ministry speaks of the director’s personal assessment and of findings by privately engaged experts that it has not seen. The Clinic source speaks of a construction commission and an urgent order. The published accounts do not show whether they refer to the same inspection, so we do not pick one version.

What about the patient who stayed?

The only patient left in the Clinic is K. K., who committed the mass murder at the “Vladislav Ribnikar” elementary school in Belgrade on May 3, 2023. He was placed in the Clinic right after the crime, at the age of 13, and has been there since May 2023. Because he had not turned 14 at the time of the crime, he could not be held criminally liable under Serbian law, so his stay is not a prison sentence but health care and institutional placement.

The source inside the Clinic says of him:

“We do not know what will happen to him next, but we believe a solution will be found and that he will be safely relocated.”

A solution for his further placement, according to the same source, is still being sought.

What is still unknown?

As of November 15, several things remain unanswered:

• Where K. K. goes. Neither the Ministry nor the Clinic source says where he will be placed.
• The commission’s findings. Employees have not seen them, and they have not been published.
• Whether the inspectorate went on site. The Ministry says that, as far as it knows, there was no inspection. The Clinic source does not mention an inspection, so there is no confirmation from the other side.
• The fate of the Autism Center. It opened on October 10, 2022, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the “Dr Laza Lazarevic” Institute, and operates as a day hospital. Its part of the building is the very one that was damaged.

The director has not spoken publicly. She told the Nova.rs newsroom that she cannot give statements because of a death in her family.