Verdict in case against Padinska Skela Penitentiary employees to be delivered tomorrow

The court will deliver its first-instance verdict, which may be appealed before the Belgrade Court of Appeal.

Earlier, in her closing arguments, the prosecutor handling the case asked the court to sentence the defendants, Vesna Sredojević, Sladjan Kovačević, Dušan Komazec, Stefan Pavlović and Zoran Krstić, to 18 months in prison each.

She pointed out that an individual's right to life does not cease upon entering a correctional facility to serve a prison sentence, and that, in this case, there had been a failure to ensure the protection of the inmate's rights.

Regarding the defendants, the prosecutor said they had demonstrated a lack of empathy.

The defence, on the other hand, argues that the defendants cannot be held responsible for Brajković's death, as they were at the lowest level of the chain of responsibility, and that the case is instead a reflection of a dysfunctional prison system.

They pointed out that Brajković had been placed in the closed section of the facility, alongside individuals with multiple previous convictions whose privileges had all been revoked. They argued that this case amounted to shifting institutional blame onto those least able to defend themselves.

The defendants in the case include doctor Vesna Sredojević and members of the prison security service: shift supervisor Sladjan Kovačević, employed as a junior supervisor, and three prison officers, Dušan Komazec, Stefan Pavlović and Zoran Krstić, who briefly denied the charges.

Kovačević, Komazec, Pavlović and Krstić are suspected of having committed the aforementioned criminal offence between February 1 and February 4, 2024, by violating general regulations, including the provisions of the Rulebook on the Performance of Duties by the Security Service in Institutions for the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions, the Law on the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions, and by acting contrary to the job descriptions and duties specified for their respective positions.

Sredojević is suspected of acting in violation of the Law on the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions, the Rulebook on House Rules in Correctional Institutions and District Prisons, as well as the principles of the Istanbul Protocol.

According to the prosecutor's office's earlier statement, the defendants evidently acted negligently in the performance of their official duties, despite being aware that such conduct could result in a serious violation of another person's rights, specifically the right to life, guaranteed by the Constitution of Serbia and the European Convention on Human Rights.

That violation ultimately occurred on February 4, 2024, when inmate S. B., who was serving a misdemeanour sentence at the facility, died.

In the indictment proposal, the prosecution proposed to the court that all the defendants be found guilty and sentenced to effective prison terms.

This is especially bearing in mind that the injured party S.B. was imprisoned in the Padinska Skela Penitentiary due to an unpaid fine, and that the defendants, with their obviously negligent actions, i.e. failure to consider the actual situation and events that took place in the said period, and that they did not perform their official actions in the manner prescribed by the Rules, as well as failure to recognize the injuries caused to the misdemeanor convicted S.B., all of which led to the violation of the right to life of S.B. harassed, beaten and sexually abused.

In addition to this proceeding, another one was conducted against the three defendants who, from mid-January to February 4, 2024, jointly committed a criminal offense in the Padinska Skela Penitentiary and took the life of the victim S.B. in the course of reckless violent behavior. In that proceeding, a first-instance verdict was pronounced.