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The men described as policemen left the air conditioning on and forced the respondent and the rest of the transit group to stay in the van for about 1 hour in the cold.

Date & Time 2024-02-06
Location At the shore of the river Korana, near the city of Slunj, Croatia
Reported by Anonymous Partner
Coordinates 45.094737834745, 15.739683166402
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Bosnia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 19 - 30
Group size 4
Countries of origin Morocco
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 8
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), kicking, exposure to air condition and extreme temperature during car ride, insulting, water immersion, theft of personal belongings
Police involved 8 Croatian policemen with blue uniforms and black masks 1 police van, white with blue stripes on the side, and the words 'Policija'

The respondent is a 19-year-old Moroccan man. He started traveling in a transit group with 3 other people aged between 19 and 30 years old, all from Morocco. They were traveling from Bosnia to Croatia. During the afternoon of the 6th of February 2024, men wearing blue uniforms stopped them in Croatia, in the city of Slunj. The respondent identified the men as police officers.

Once the respondent and the rest of the transit group arrived in Slunj, they went to the bus station and entered one of the shops around there. A short time after they were in the shop, eight people came in dressed in blue uniforms with black masks covering their entire faces. These 8 persons, recognized by the respondent as policemen, started to ask the transit group to hand over money to them. In particular, the respondent stated that he handed over 200 euros to them. Subsequently, the transit group was made to get into a van which the respondent describes as white with blue stripes on the sides and the words ‘Policija’ on the bonnet.

Once the transit group entered the police van, the police officer who was driving turned on the cold air and started the van, driving to the river Korana which divides Croatia from Bosnia. Unfortunately, the respondent could not recall the exact location of the pushback. Once at the river, the officers reportedly left the air conditioning on and forced the respondent and the rest of the transit group to stay in the van for about 1 hour in the cold. After an hour had passed, the men in uniforms started to hit the transit group from behind with a stick to get them out of the van, and as the four men walked towards the river, they were kicked on the legs, and back, and slapped on the head.

According to the respondent, once at the river bank, the men identified by the respondent as policemen continued to beat the transit group, even kicking them in the face and head. They laughed at them, took their phones, and told them to go back to Bosnia. Eventually, the transit group was forced into the icy water of the river and pushed back to Bosnia.