The respondent is a 23-year-old man from Morocco, he was traveling alone on Tuesday 9th of January, when he reached the Central Bus Station in Slunj, Croatia.

The respondent had been walking for days in the woods of the Croatian mountains. His left foot had swollen a lot due to the long and impassable walk and therefore he had difficulty walking. He described that, as soon as he arrived at the Central Bus Station in Slunj, he was apprehended by two officers identified by the respondent as Croatian police officers. The officers approached him and told him to get into their car, which the respondent described as a generic police car.

Once the respondent got into the car, the two policemen took him to the border between Croatia and Bosnia. The respondent could not confirm the exact location of the pushback. However, the respondent states that the car stopped near the Korana River, and the two policemen made him get out of the car and confiscated his mobile phone and all the money he had. The policemen also beat the respondent and then threw him into the river, telling him that he had to swim back to the Bosnian shore. He described that the water was freezing cold and that he also found it difficult to swim because of his swollen and sore foot.

The respondent states that ‘I am alive by a miracle and I suffered police violence because they have no humanity and no mercy’.