Trial postponed for police officers accused of beating a minor in Osmaci

(Patria) - The trial of Osmaci Police Station commander Dejan Marković, officers Rajko Đurić and Dragan Milutinović, and criminal inspector Novica Popović, for gross abuse and physical injury of a minor in Osmaci, has been postponed before the Basic Court in Zvornik due to technical issues.

The injured party was scheduled to be heard today before the Basic Court in Zvornik, but due to technical problems the trial was postponed, lawyer Miodrag Stojanović confirmed to Detektor.

The next hearing is scheduled for July 9 in Bijeljina.

The indictment states that officers Dejan Marković, Novica Popović, Dragan Milutinović and Rajko Đurić on August 22, 2023, participated in the “unjustified and excessive use of physical force” against a minor, and are charged with the criminal offense of “violation of human dignity through abuse of official position or authority”.

They interrogated the minor in Osmaci, as stated in the indictment, without the presence of parents, about who was robbing houses, and Marković struck him with an open fist in the face, then intimidated him with a weapon, and hit him on the neck and shoulders.

For Popović, Đurić and Milutinović, it is stated that they took no action to prevent Marković from beating the minor.

Đurić, it is alleged, during the interrogation began breaking the minor’s fingers on his hand “pulling one finger after another”, while Popović and Milutinović drove him in a police vehicle, and Milutinović on that occasion hit him on the arm and leg, after which they left him unconscious in front of his house.

Their trial began in October last year.

The entire case was reported to the competent institutions by the child’s father, about which, as stated, Detektor previously wrote.