Tatjana Micic at Police Station, Sapic Denies Hitting Her

Kreni-Promeni councilor in the Belgrade City Assembly Tatjana Micic arrived at Novi Beograd Police Station this morning, September 30, to give a statement about her clash with Mayor Aleksandar Sapic. She entered the station with her husband Ilija Micic and lawyer Nikola Tadic, and according to the movement she was expected to hand over complete medical documentation of her injuries. The incident took place on the evening of September 28 in Bezanijska Kosa, while she was out walking with her husband and their dog.

Activists and citizens gathered in front of the station and blocked the street. They greeted Micic with applause and chants of “Tanja, we love you,” Kreni-Promeni said in a statement. She was expected to address the crowd after giving her statement.

What does the medical report say, and who has received it so far?

The movement earlier published on X a medical report citing a fracture of the left nasal bone and of the frontal process of the upper jaw with dislocation, meaning the broken pieces of bone had shifted. Yesterday, outside the Third Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office, Kreni-Promeni said it had submitted medical documentation along with its criminal complaint against Sapic.

On September 29, the prosecutor’s office said that the report by an ear, nose and throat specialist, published on social media, had reached neither the police nor the office itself. According to the documentation it holds, several doctors examined Micic that night. A neurosurgeon found a minor physical injury to the face, a surgeon found no injuries, and an orthopedist found a minor injury in the form of a contusion of the right elbow and a strained neck muscle. At the ENT clinic, based on an image she presented, a fracture of the nose and jaw was recorded, but the doctor could not assess how severe the injuries were and referred her to a maxillofacial surgeon. The prosecutor’s office claims she did not show up for that examination, and it has asked the Emergency Center for the complete documentation.

The office also says that police officers, on its orders, tried several times to reach the injured parties by phone to take statements, that nobody answered, and that they were not found at their address. After the legal deadline expired, Sapic was released. Savo Manojlovic, the Kreni-Promeni leader, said Sapic was released after 15 minutes “without being given a narcotics test or a breathalyzer,” while the prosecutor’s office claims he was tested at the station and that neither psychoactive substances nor alcohol were found.

Lawyer Nikola Lakic told Danas that the prosecutor’s office is stating untruths, and he spelled out why:

“The prosecutor’s office groundlessly claims it had no information about the councilor’s examination, because it is above all the duty of medical staff, once an injury is recorded, to urgently notify the police of injuries sustained as a result of a criminal offense. Also, the police themselves could have inspected the medical report and requested it from the health institution, and then notified the prosecutor’s office.”

Lakic believes the prosecutor’s office should have ordered Sapic to be detained, while the office says all mechanisms provided by law have been exhausted.

What do Micic and Sapic say about the incident itself?

In a video the movement published, Micic said that Sapic went for her husband:

“He went to hit my husband, I stepped between them and he smashed me on the nose, he made my nose bleed.”

Sapic denies hitting her. At an extraordinary press conference the day after the incident, he said he had spoken with her because she had been calling on people to gather outside his house, and that when he and the councilor’s husband shoved each other, he pushed her away:

“I have never attacked anyone first in my life, I think I acted correctly, I did not touch the lady in question, except that I moved her away from me.”

The mayor also said his “biggest mistake” was not walking away, and he announced lawsuits against the councilor, her husband and the movement over what he called a “string of lies.” He rejected calls to resign.

What does the opposition want, and what does the government say?

Kreni-Promeni is demanding that the prosecutor’s office propose pretrial detention for Sapic and that an extraordinary City Assembly session be called to remove him. Other opposition parties have backed the demand. Zdravko Jankovic, a councilor from the Green-Left Front, said that “a person who hits a councilor cannot represent or run Belgrade.” Movement member Iva Stojiljkovic told N1 that Sapic held the press conference “to justify himself to Vucic.”

Criticism also came from the top of the ruling side: President Aleksandar Vucic told Informer that the mayor should have left the scene of the clash, and that “the responsibility lies solely with Aleksandar Sapic.”

Micic came to hand the documentation to the police, and the prosecutor’s office said in a statement that further pre-investigation actions against Sapic would be taken once the facts have been established.