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They then had to find their way in the darkness [...] injured and without any lights or GPS

Date & Time 2018-09-30
Location Near Ogulin, Croatia
Reported by Aid Brigade Sarajevo
Coordinates 45.27169613, 15.2146273
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Bosnia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 21 - 25
Group size 7
Countries of origin Pakistan
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 3
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), theft of personal belongings
Police involved Three officers

On September 30, 2018, three Croatian officers detected seven men in their early twenties hiding in the woods near the highway E71 close to the town of Ogulin (HRV).

They asked who spoke English and all of them denied, afraid they might be accused of being smugglers if they had GPS and spoke English. The three officers then lined them up, made them drop their bags and began beating them with their batons. Afterwards, they searched their pockets and bags and took all of their valuables: seven phones, an unknown number of power banks and all their money, €1050 in total.

Then, the group of seven had to enter a police car and was driven to the mountains at the Bosnian border.

When they arrived, the officers forced them to get off the car in the dark and told them to walk towards Bosnia. The seven men didn’t get any food or water during their custody. They then had to find their way through the mountains in the darkness back to Bihac (BIH), injured and without any lights or GPS.