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"I think I die, I die, the river was too much fast and cold, me and my brother die!"

Date & Time 2022-02-12
Location Koranski Lug, Croatia, at the shore of the river Korana
Reported by No Name Kitchen
Coordinates 45.059229, 15.744823
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Bosnia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 21 - 34
Group size 2
Countries of origin Morocco
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 6
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), insulting, water immersion, forcing to undress, destruction of personal belongings, theft of personal belongings, pushing into a river in winter
Police involved 6 officers - 4 of them in black and blue uniforms, 2 of them in military uniforms. all of them wear black masks. There officers had two dogs and two vans with them.

The respondent is a 21 year-old man from Morocco. He was pushed back from Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the night from Friday the 2nd to Saturday the 3rd of December.

The respondent tried to cross the Bosnian-Croatian border together with his 34-year old brother, who has a walking disability for 14 years, and was using a crutch because of that reason.

At the moment of the interview, the two brothers were stuck in Bosnia for 3 years and 7 months. In this time they had experienced many pushbacks, so many that the respondent had stopped counting them, he stated.

The location of the pushback was by the riverside of the river Korana close to Koranski Lug, Croatia, at the shore of the river Korana. The respondent recognized the location, because between 12 and 18 months ago, he did encounter the police once before at the same location. At that time, they did throw him into the water, as it would happen this time.

In the night from the 2nd to the 3rd December at the riverside, the two brothers encountered six officers. The last time the respondent checked his phone, it was about 22:00 o‘clock.

The respondent described the uniforms of four of the officers as black on the outside, and blue on the inside. In addition to that, they were wearing black ski-masks to hide their faces. According to this description, it can be assumed that these officers were part of the Croatian Intervention Police (Interventna Jednica Policija / IJP). These officers also had two dogs with them.There were two other officers, who were wearing military uniforms and black ski-maks. According to this description, it can be assumed that they were part of the Ekipa za Posebne Zadace (EPZ), a subunit of the IJP. The 6 officers came by two vans.

The officers stopped the two brothers. First they started to insult them and their mother with insults which the respondent did not want to repeat. Further on, the officers started to beat the respondent, first with their hands, then with sticks. The respondent asked them not to beat his brother, also because of his walking disability. „Always when I said something, they beat me harder.“, he stated. They beat him seven times on the thorax, and afterwards on the head. „I could not speak, I cried too much.It was the first time in my life, I see people like that. They treated me like an animal.“ Afterwards they were beating also his brother with sticks.

Further on, some of the officers told the respondent and his brother to give them their mobile phones, power bank, money and documents. They also took their backpacks, and brought it some meters away. Some moments later, the respondent saw fire there, and he assumed that the officers were burning their backpacks and documents.

Further on, the officers asked the two brothers to take off their socks and shoes. There was snow on the ground, where the two brothers had to stand barefoot.

Some seconds later, the officers pushed the respondent into the water, and afterwards his brother. The respondent could not answer how long he was in the river. The only thing he could say when thinking about the river was that he was afraid to die. „I die, I die, the river was deep and too much fast and cold. You can‘t imagine how much danger I experienced. I was scared too much!“ He was also very scared what would happen with his brother, who could not swim well.

After an unknown period of time, somehow the respondent and his brother manged to grab the shore of of the river and pull themselves out of the water.

The respondent did not know where they were. The two started walking, barefoot through the snowy and frozen ground. During the interview, the respondent reconstructed that the location where they came out of the river was close to the coordinated 45°03’35.6″N 15°44’43.8″E, close to Šturlić, Bosnia y Herzegovina. After 5-7 km, they came to a street that the respondent assumed to have seen before. Close to there, they found a little house, where they were ringing and asking for help. This house was close to the location with the coordinates 45.061270,15.747042. The people from the house let them come in, made a fire for them, gave them socks and shoes, and said „Allah be with you.“

At the moment of the interview, the respondent was still suffering from fever and cough. Moreover, he had a strong pain in his rips and breathing problems. He assumed, that some rips were broken from the beating of the officers. „ I am too much sad and angry. These are black days for me.“ He further on explained that since that night of the pushback he can‘t sleep anymore, because bad dreams are disrupting his sleep and make him wake up regularly. He was also suffering from suicidal thoughts.