# Andrej Obradović: complaint against police officers dismissed
Category: Violence against citizens
Period: from 14 Feb 2024
Outcome: Complaint dismissed or proceedings halted (as of 2 Sep 2026)
On 14 February 2024, police searched a flat in Karaburma where twenty-year-old Andrej Obradović lived with a female flatmate. According to him and to the association Da se zna!, when the officers saw an LGBT+ flag, they tied the pair up and beat them, and sexually abused him. The officers denied the allegations. The First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade took his statement only after he had been on hunger strike for five days, and after six months of pre-investigation proceedings it dismissed the criminal complaint. As of September 2026, no police officer had been prosecuted, and the outcome of the application to the European Court of Human Rights is not known.
## Search and abuse
On 14 February 2024, police burst into a flat in Karaburma where twenty-year-old Andrej Obradović lived with a female flatmate, acting on a court search warrant over suspected drugs. A small amount of marijuana was found and both were taken to the Novi Beograd police station. Obradović does not dispute that part.
According to him and to the association Da se zna!, when the officers saw an LGBT+ flag in the flat, they tied him and his flatmate up, beat them and insulted them over their sexual orientation, and sexually abused him, both in the flat and at the station. The officers denied the allegations.
## Hunger strike outside Parliament
The first complaint to the Interior Ministry was rejected, and for two months the prosecutor's office did not call Obradović to give a statement. In April 2024 he went on hunger strike for five days outside the National Assembly and fell ill twice; only then did the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade take his statement.
## Search footage and surveillance
According to the association “Da se zna!”, the Interior Ministry asked the Ombudsman to release it from the obligation to hand over footage of the search. Obradović says that after he went public, police officers followed and intimidated him.
## Complaint dismissed, and Strasbourg
On 4 September 2024, after six months of pre-investigation proceedings, the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade dismissed the criminal complaint against the officers, even though, according to the association Da se zna!, the Interior Ministry's Complaints Commission had found the allegations of violence partly well-founded.
In February 2025, the association said that all objections had also been rejected and announced an application to the European Court of Human Rights; Obradović said he was leaving Serbia. As of September 2026, no police officer had been prosecuted, and the outcome of the application in Strasbourg is not known.
## Participants
- [Belgrade City Police Department](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/pu-beograd): According to Obradović, after bursting into the flat, police officers beat him and his flatmate for hours and sexually abused them; the station rejected his complaint (responsible)
- [Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/mup-srbije): According to the association “Da se zna!”, it asked the Ombudsman to release it from the obligation to hand over footage of the raid on the flat (responsible)
- [Internal Control Sector of the Interior Ministry (MUP)](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/sektor-unutrasnje-kontrole): It submitted a report to the prosecution; Obradović claims it pointed out irregularities by the inspectors (investigation and courts)
- [First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/prvo-ojt-beograd): After a pre-investigation lasting more than six months, it dismissed Obradović's criminal complaint against officers of the New Belgrade police station (responsible)
- [Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Special Department for Combating Corruption](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/vjt-beograd): According to the association “Da se zna!”, all objections were rejected in February 2025, including Obradović's objection to the dismissal of his complaint (responsible)
- [Protector of Citizens (Ombudsman)](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/zastitnik-gradjana): It opened proceedings on suspicion that the police officers had exceeded their powers (oversight and the public)
- [Zoran Pašalić](https://odgovornost.rs/en/osobe/zoran-pasalic): He visited him during his hunger strike, did not reveal the Interior Ministry's statement and said he was waiting for documentation (oversight and the public)
- [The “Da se zna!” Association](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/da-se-zna): It made allegations of violence, organised a protest and announced an application to the court in Strasbourg (oversight and the public)
## Victims and others harmed
- [Andrej Obradović](https://odgovornost.rs/en/osobe/andrej-obradovic)
## Sources
- [Nova.rs: “I’m not fighting only for my own rights, but for the rights of all vulnerable people”: Prosecutors dismiss complaint against police officers who abused Andrej, young man refuses to give up the fight](): 6 Sep 2024
- [Danas: Prosecutors summon Andrej Obradović to give a statement](): 15 Apr 2024
- [BBC: Serbia: Gay young man to challenge dismissal of complaint over alleged police assault](): 6 Sep 2024
- [Radio Slobodna Evropa: Young man ends hunger strike outside Serbian Parliament over police torture](): 17 Apr 2024
- [Danas: Who is Andrej Obradović, who has been on hunger strike for five days over the institutions' silence on police brutality?](): 16 Apr 2024
- [N1: Da se zna association: Prosecutors dismiss complaint over police brutality against members of the LGBT+ community](): 5 Sep 2024
- [N1: Da se zna organisation: Police burst into flat of two LGBT people, torture lasted several hours](): 26 Feb 2024
- [Radio Slobodna Evropa: Protest in Belgrade against police brutality towards LGBT+ people](): 6 Mar 2024
- [BBC: Serbia and LGBT+: Gay young man on hunger strike in Belgrade, demands punishment for police officers he accuses of abuse](): 16 Apr 2024
- [N1: Protest against violence against LGBT+ people: Prosecute the police officers now](): 6 Mar 2024
- [Radio Slobodna Evropa: Prosecutors dismiss complaint over abuse of LGBT+ person in Belgrade](): 5 Sep 2024
- [Radio Slobodna Evropa: NGOs in Serbia call for suspension of police officers suspected of abusing LGBT people](): 28 Feb 2024
- [N1: "Prosecutors protect police officers who carry out torture": Andrej on the fourth day of a hunger strike to get justice](): 15 Apr 2024
- [Nova.rs: Young man on hunger strike outside Serbian Parliament taken ill](): 15 Apr 2024
- [Vreme: Andrej Obradović's hunger strike: "I won't stay silent about justice!"](): 16 Apr 2024
- [Danas: Prosecutors silent again: A month after ending his hunger strike, Andrej Obradović has no information about his case](): 18 May 2024
- [N1: Ombudsman on Andrej Obradović's case and the allegations of police torture: I am expecting additional documents](): 30 May 2024
- [Insajder: Six months after two LGBT people were beaten and mistreated: the case is still at the pre-investigation stage](): 14 Aug 2024
- [Nova.rs: Andrej Obradović survived police torture: Prosecutor ignores him, police want to be exempted from handing over footage](): 15 Aug 2024
- [Danas: Andrej Obradović seeks help from the international community after his police brutality complaint is rejected](): 5 Sep 2024
- [Da se zna!: Andrej Obradović detained at the border](): 11 Nov 2024
- [Boom93: Association announces Strasbourg court case over alleged police torture of LGBT person](): 6 Feb 2025
- [BBC: Attacks on LGBT+ people in Serbia: “We are not safe”](): 2 Sep 2026
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Source: Odgovornost, https://odgovornost.rs/en/afere/andrej-obradovic-policija
As of: 4 Nov 2026
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)