Prosecutors: Micic Unreachable, Belgrade Mayor Sapic Freed

The Third Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade said on Tuesday that Kreni-Promeni councilwoman Tatjana Micic and her husband were unreachable to police and prosecutors overnight, and that Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic was released from the police station only after, as prosecutors put it, all legal mechanisms had been exhausted. The incident between Sapic and Micic took place on Monday evening, September 28, in New Belgrade, and the two sides describe it in entirely different terms.

What happened in New Belgrade?

By her own account, Micic was walking her dog with her husband in the neighborhood where Sapic also lives. She told N1 they are neighbors. The mayor was passing with another man, turned around and approached them. Micic claims he accused her of bringing people to his house.

“The mayor lunged at me, claiming that I had been bringing people in front of his house, and got in my face.”

When she took out her phone to film, in her version, Sapic tried to knock it out of her hand. On Instagram she described what came next.

“I placed myself between him and my husband, and then he hit me in the nose and broke my nose.”

Nova.rs also recorded a second formulation from her: “He started to protect me and I put myself between the two of them, and he swung and punched me in the nose.”

Sapic denies this. In a statement carried by Blic, he says there was a scuffle and that he pushed the councilwoman away rather than striking her.

“When I asked them why they had been sharing my address on social media, bringing people to my house and threatening me, they started to attack me. There was a scuffle. I did not hit the woman, I pushed her away to defend myself from her husband.”

In the same statement he also said: “I have never attacked anyone first, nor have I ever in my life hit a woman.” He added that he has never gone to anyone’s house and has never run from anyone, “especially not from those who think everything is permitted to them”. The N1 and Nova.rs newsrooms report that Sapic hung up when they called him.

What does the prosecutors’ statement say?

The duty public prosecutor was informed in the evening that Micic and her husband had been physically attacked by the mayor, and ordered interviews with all participants, a medical examination for the complainants and notification of everything needed to classify the criminal offense. Sapic was taken to the New Belgrade Police Station, where his alcohol and psychoactive substance tests came back negative, and he was held until the complainants’ examinations were finished.

According to the statement, the Emergency Center recorded minor bodily injuries, and Micic was referred to a maxillofacial surgeon over head injuries so that their severity could be determined. Prosecutors say the complainant then left the Emergency Center and that, according to police, she never went to the surgeon. Police called them several times without an answer, and a patrol sent to her address found no one there. The prosecutors’ conclusion followed:

“Without the availability of the complainants, their statements and the necessary documentation, the prosecutor’s ability to fully establish the facts is objectively limited. As of the moment this statement was issued, the complainants’ cooperation with the prosecutor’s office has been entirely absent.”

Prosecutors say further pre-investigation steps against Sapic will be taken once the facts have been established.

Where do the sources disagree?

Injuries are the first point of dispute. Prosecutors speak of minor bodily injuries recorded at the Emergency Center. Kreni-Promeni published a finding that reads “fracture of the left nasal bone and of the frontal process of the maxilla on the left with dislocation”, meaning a broken left nasal bone and part of the upper jaw, with displacement. The prosecutors’ statement does not mention that finding. Movement leader Savo Manojlovic said Micic is in surgery today.

The second is the release. Kreni-Promeni claims Sapic was let go about 15 minutes after the attack. Prosecutors say he was held until the examinations ended and the legal time limit expired. Aleksandar Vucic, who heads the United Serbia list, said Sapic was held and questioned until 5:30 a.m., and judged that “there is no justification for Aleksandar Sapic and for what he did”.

Nova.rs also published a video taken after the clash. In it Sapic walks away, then stops and gestures with his hands toward the councilwoman’s husband, and the outlet says the recording does not make it possible to tell what he is saying. According to Micic, police arrived after about twenty minutes. On the available footage of Sapic’s departure in a police vehicle, no handcuffs are visible. In the same video Manojlovic asks the mayor: “You hit a woman?”, and Sapic replies: “Me hit? Come on, stop acting.”

What comes next?

Kreni-Promeni announces a criminal complaint and demands Sapic’s arrest. The movement has also announced a request to the Belgrade City Assembly for his dismissal, along with a protest in front of the Third Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office at 16 Bulevar Mihajla Pupina, starting at 2 p.m., where it will demand urgent action and a motion for detention. Reactions from several opposition parties point the same way.

The incident lands in the middle of the campaign for snap parliamentary elections set for October 25. Prosecutors say they lack the complainants’ statements and medical documentation for further proceedings, while Kreni-Promeni made its medical finding public the same day.