Eight gendarmes charged with assaulting military police

BELGRADE - The Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade raised charges against eight members of the gendarmerie suspected of assaulting members of the military police during the Pride Parade in November last year, and dismissed criminal charges against two military police officers filed by the ombudsman.

The gendarmes are charged with assaulting members of the military on duty and with torture and abuse, the prosecution said.

They are also charged with abuse of power, related to their involvement in the events that took place during the Pride Parade on November 28, 2014 in Belgrade.

The Prosecutor's Office dismissed the charges filed on January 14 by Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic against two members of the military police for assaulting members of the gendarmerie on duty.

Jankovic filed the charges after an incident in which the members of the gendarmerie got into a conflict with four persons, two of whom were brothers of senior state officials and the other two members of the military police who escorted them.

The prosecution found that there are no grounds for legal action against the two military police officers, Sasa Jovanovic and Sasa Stankovic.

According to the release, the charges filed by the ombudsman were dropped "after careful analysis and examination of all the evidence" presented, as well as the documents and data collected for the criminal charges raised against members of the gendarmerie by the internal control sector of the Serbian Interior Ministry.

Photo TV N1 Video (archive, illustration)