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Beatings, threats and 50 euros as a gift

Date & Time 2024-07-16
Location Around Velika Kladuša
Reported by Anonymous
Coordinates 45.176206125637, 15.762481215204
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Bosnia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 24 - 26
Group size 4
Countries of origin Syria
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 9
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), kicking, pepper spray, threatening with guns, theft of personal belongings, forced into the river
Police involved 9 policemen, armed and wearing dark blue uniforms. 1 police car, 1 unmarked car and 1 white border police van .

A transit group consisting of 4 people from Syria was apprehended and pushbacked to Bosnia and Herzegovina by, who they recognized as Croatian police officers. The respondent is a Syrian man. He reports being pushed back to Bosnia and Herzegovina from Croatia on the 16 July 2024. The age of the transit group is between 24 and 26 years old.

The transit group group crossed the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Once in Croatia, they walked for a few hours, slept in the jungle and then continued walking. They passed through the town of Bilo until they reached a road in Glinsko Vrelo. Here, at 10am, they were approached by, what the respondent recognized as a police car driven by a single policeman. He made a phone call and in a few minutes, an unmarked car, followed by a white border police van, approached the transit group.

The respondent reported that there were 9 police officers wearing dark blue uniforms, one of them had a police dog with him.

The policemen forced the transit group to give them all their belongings: money and mobile phones. The transit group gave them their personal mobile phones and the 700 euros they had. The respondent described having some money hidden in his socks, so he was the only one who didn’t give any money to the police.

Immediately after that, one of the police officers sprayed the whole group with pepper spray. After this, all the policemen, except the one holding the dog, started beating the rest of the transit group with slaps, punches, shoves and kicks. The respondent stated that he was spared from this kind of violence ‘probably because he did not seem to have any money’.

The policeman with the dog approached him and gave him 50 euro, which he had taken from the money he had just stolen from the others. “He said nothing, nobody saw him do it. I really don’t know why he did it,” said the respondent.

At this point, the respondent stated that the policemen ordered the group to return to Bosnia and threatened them by loading their guns. The group was therefore forced to return, crossing the river. They entered Bosnia near Velika Kladusa. Unfortunately, the respondent didn’t know the exact location of the pushback.