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The police said 'fuck you go to Serbia, next time we kill you'

Date & Time 2017-07-10
Location Ilača, Croatia
Reported by No Name Kitchen
Coordinates 45.14208101, 19.15710766
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Serbia
Taken to a police station unknown
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved no
Age 21 - 37
Group size 5
Countries of origin Morocco, Tunisia
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 12
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), kicking, theft of personal belongings
Police involved 6-7 police officers, 5 police officers, about 20-30 years-old, male, in Croatian border police uniforms, 1 female police officer

On Saturday, October 7th, 2017, 5 men were pushed-back at the Serbian-Croatian border near Tovarnik, Croatia. The men had walked from Šid, Serbia across the border and for about 20 km into Croatian territory, before being caught by the Croatian border police at about 4-5pm. There were 6-7 male police officers. The police officers asked for the people’s passports and nationality, and called for one female police officer to transport them in a police van to Tovarnik. 5 police officers continued the transport from Tovarnik to the pushback place on the Croatian side, where the main incident of violence occurred.

There were 5 police officers, about 20-30 years, male, in Croatian border police uniforms. All the men were beaten one by one by the police officers. One police officer held each person, while other officers beat the person. All men were beaten, and all of them sustained injuries as a result of the beating. The police hit them with thick batons with handles, on all parts of their body. On the Croatian side, the police searched them and checked their baggage; one bag was confiscated. The police said “fuck you go to Serbia, next time we kill you”.

After that, the people-on-the-move fled a few hundred meters to the Serbian side and stopped to rest, as the injuries made their journey difficult. The same police officers noticed that they had stopped, followed them, and continued beating them.

The men ran away and walked back to Šid.