Two Banja Luka activists who took part in the protests after the death of David Dragicevic say that the police discriminate against them with misdemeanor punishments for which they are not given warrants, while the Court refuses to return the case to the beginning.
Sofija Grmusa and Merlina Ivic from Banja Luka accidentally discovered in the register of punishments that they had previously been punished for misdemeanors, but they say that no court proceedings were ever conducted against them, nor did they receive a misdemeanor order in person or by mail. That is why they asked the police for misdemeanor warrants for which they were punished and evidence of the allegedly proper delivery of the information.
Grmusa, who previously won a lawsuit for discrimination in the case against the Banja Luka police, says that they had never before seen orders on the basis of which they were punished for misdemeanors and that they did not have the opportunity to request a court decision.
“I believe that this is a form of discrimination and the continuation of discrimination by the police,” says Grmusa, an activist of the informal group “Justice for David” (”Pravda za Davida”).
According to Grmusa, the Banja Luka police department refused to give them the misdemeanor warrants, which she and Iviccomplained to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republika Srpska (RS). This ministry accepted their appeal and ordered the Banja Luka Police Department to deliver the requested misdemeanor warrants to Grmusa and Ivic, lawyer Jovana Kisin Zagajac confirmed for the Balkan Research Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH).
“The Banja Luka Police Department again passes an act refusing to submit misdemeanor warrants, and in the letter points out that the number of the misdemeanor warrant is sufficient information for the party to address the competent court,” explained Kisin Zagajac.
The Banja Luka Police Department did not respond to BIRN BiH’s questions about the claims of Grmusa and Ivic. In the letter sent to Grmusa in August 2022, which BIRN BiH had access to, it is written that the postman tried to deliver the misdemeanor order to her home address, but failed.
Grmusa and Ivic will seek protection in this case at the Constitutional Court of BiH, it was confirmed for BIRN BiH. Grmusa, together with Aleksandra Ninic Vranjes, previously sued the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS due to continued discrimination, which BIRN BiH wrote about on several occasions, Detektor reports.
E.Dz.
