The European Court ruled in a case against the state of Serbia

The European Court ruled in a case against the state of Serbia

Guardsman Dragan Jakovljević was killed, together with Guardsman Dražen Milovanović, in the Topčider barracks, on October 5, 2004.

Jakovljevic family filed a lawsuit following the acquitting of former military judge Vuk Tufegdzic in 2008 in criminal proceedings against Tufegdzic, who conducted the first investigation into the deaths of the guards, because he allegedly publicly damaged the reputation and honor of their murdered son.

The decision, which was published today on the website of the European Court, states that the lawsuit was rejected because not all domestic legal remedies were exhausted, i.e. because, in addition to criminal proceedings and proceedings before the Constitutional Court, which were unsuccessful, the Jakovljevićs could initiate civil proceedings. for damages due to damaging honor and reputation.

"The court considers that the applicant should have brought a civil action under the Law of Obligations," the decision reads, adding that according to the rules of that court, the action must be dismissed for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies.

The decision was made by a seven-member council unanimously.

In a statement for Tanjug, the attorney of the Jakovljević family, lawyer Predrag Savić, announced an appeal against this decision to the Grand Chamber of the European Court.

However, he believes that it is good that the European Court has agreed to decide in this case at all, because it has not done so before on similar petitions.

The Jakovljevićs sued the state in front of the European Court in 2012 regarding the final decision of the then District Court in Belgrade, by which former military investigating judge Vuk Tufegdžić was acquitted of charges of taking out personal and family matters, i.e. that his public statements violated the reputation and honor of their murdered son.

They believe that the court's decision violated their rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights - a fair trial by an independent court, as well as an effective investigation into the right to life.

Former Judge Tufegdzic conducted a military investigation after the death of the guards.

He claimed that they killed each other, but later experts determined that they were killed by a third person, whose identity is still unknown.

Lawyers for the families of both guards, Jakovljevic and Milovanovic, filed another petition with the European Court of Human Rights last winter, complaining to the state about the non-execution of the decision of the Constitutional Court of Serbia from 2013 in the part related to the investigation of their murder.

The investigation has been going on for a full 16 years, and it is still being conducted against unidentified persons.