Murdered French Fan's Family Withdraws Serbia Lawsuit

Slobodan Ruzic, lawyer for the family, on Monday said the parents of Brice Taton had decided to withdraw a lawsuit against Serbia because of “the deadline for the compensation that the family was getting from a special fund in France.

"The trial in Serbia was going so slowly that they stood to lose their right to compensation from the fund,” Ruzic said.

The Tatons have obtained 60,000 euros in damages from the French fund. The family had sought 300,000 euros from Serbia for damage and mental anguish, on the grounds that the Serbian police failed to protect their son.

Taton, 28, was fatally beaten by a group of Partizan football club supporters in Belgrade on September 17, 2009, ahead of a match between Partizan and the French team, Toulouse. He died 12 days later.

In February 2014, the Appellate Court in Belgrade abolished the first-instance ruling of the Higher Court in Belgrade, which had rejected a defence request for a repeat trial.

The Appellate Court ruled that the appeal was justified because the decision against the retrial violated certain provisions of the criminal procedure.

The Appellate Court also halved the prison sentences for the 14 sentenced for the murder, cutting the 35- and 32-year sentences for Djordje Prelic and Dejan Puzigaca to 15 and 14 years respectively.

Ljubomir Markovic and Ivan Grkovic also had their sentences reduced from 30 to 15 years each.