Category: Violence against citizens
Period: from 5 Jul 2025
Outcome: Indictment filed (as of 30 Sep 2026)
A final-year student at the Raška Grammar School, then still in secondary school, was beaten by two police officers near the railway station after a protest on the night of 4 to 5 July 2025. The first, Marijan M., struck him with a baton. On 5 November 2026, in a first-instance ruling, the Basic Court in Raška ordered the Interior Ministry to pay him 320,000 dinars in damages and found that the officers' conduct had been „absolutely unlawful“. The Interior Ministry appealed. Criminal proceedings are reportedly also under way against Marijan M.
On the night of 4 to 5 July 2025, at around two in the morning, a final-year student at the Raška Grammar School was beaten near the railway station in Raška by two police officers, according to the ruling. M.M. first hit him with a baton, and then a second, unidentified officer kicked and punched him. The student suffered minor injuries, after which M.M. made him put the waste containers back. According to the student's account, there were three officers.
The next day, students of the Grammar School, which they were holding under blockade, said he had been „brutally beaten“ by M.M., an officer from the Raška police station. About a hundred citizens protested outside the station, demanding his suspension.
The student sued the state, namely the Ministry of the Interior, for damages; the first hearing at the Raška Basic Court was held on 9 March 2026. On 5 November, the court ruled at first instance that the state must pay him 320,000 dinars in non-pecuniary damages and more than 200,000 dinars in legal costs.
In its reasoning, the court found that the officers had used force without legal grounds and that their conduct was “absolutely unlawful”. The first officer did not respond to the court's summonses. The ministry has appealed to the Court of Appeal in Kragujevac.
The student filed a criminal complaint against the officers with the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Raška; as of November 2026, there is no official information on whether the investigation has been completed.
Criminal proceedings are also reportedly under way at the Raška Basic Court against police officer Marijan M., who is charged with beating the student that night.