Death of Stanimir Brajković in Padinska Skela prison

Category: Victims of negligence

Period: from Jan 2024

Outcome: Guilty verdict (as of 6 Nov 2026)

Pensioner Stanimir Brajković (74), who was serving 30 days in prison at Padinska Skela in place of an unpaid fine for a thrown firecracker, died on 4 February 2024 after, according to the first-instance verdict, being beaten over several days; three cellmates were convicted of aggravated murder in a non-final verdict. The Protector of Citizens found that the prison's health service had acted unlawfully and its security service improperly. On 6 November 2026 the Higher Court convicted the prison doctor and the shift leader of negligent performance of duty in a non-final verdict and acquitted the three commanders; no manager above the prison level has been criminally prosecuted.

A firecracker, prison and death

Stanimir Brajković, a 74-year-old pensioner from Mladenovac, was fined 30,000 dinars for throwing a firecracker. He did not pay the fine, so it was replaced with 30 days in prison, which he served at the Padinska Skela Correctional Institution.

He was placed in a dormitory with three younger men serving sentences for misdemeanours. According to the first-instance verdict of the Higher Court in Belgrade from December 2025, they beat and abused him for days; he died on 4 February 2024 with a fractured chest and 17 broken ribs. The three were convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to 18 and 19 years in prison, in a verdict that is not yet final.

Failures of the prison services

The public learned of the death only in March 2024. According to the son, he was told at the prison that his father had died of a heart attack, and he then saw bruises on his father's face. The Ombudsman found that the prison health service acted unlawfully (examinations were not recorded and injuries were not photographed), that the security service did not report visible injuries, and that Brajković's age was not taken into account when he was placed.

A team from the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture visited the prison two days before the death and described the staff's conduct as an example of good practice, but reportedly did not visit the misdemeanour ward where Brajković was held.

The warden and an “isolated” case

The Administration for the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions found that the prison governor, Vladimir Bukvić, ran the facility unlawfully and improperly. It dismissed and suspended him and ten other employees, but called the case isolated.

The family's lawyer claims that Bukvić unlawfully abolished the open and semi-open wards and that no investigation was ever opened against him.

Trial and verdict for the staff

Four members of the security service and the prison doctor were charged with negligent performance of duty, and the prosecution sought a year and a half in prison for all of them. On 6 November 2026 the Higher Court in Belgrade convicted the doctor in a non-final verdict and sentenced her to two and a half years, and the shift leader to a year and a half in prison; the three commanders were acquitted. The defence lawyers of the convicted announced appeals, as did the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office, seeking higher sentences and a conviction of the commanders.

According to the reasoning, primary responsibility lay with the health service: the doctor examined him in his cell the day before his death, when he could no longer even speak, and neither transferred him nor kept him in the infirmary. No manager above the prison level has been criminally prosecuted.

Participants

Belgrade Correctional Institution – Padinska Skela: According to the Ombudsman, prison doctors did not record examinations and security staff did not report visible injuries to their superiors (responsible)
Vladimir Bukvić: According to the inspection report, he ran the prison unlawfully; he decided on his own to place inmates serving misdemeanour sentences in the closed section (responsible)
Administration for the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions: It suspended the warden and ten employees, called the case an isolated one and denied that it had covered up the death (commented on the case)
Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia: It said it had launched an internal inquiry and disciplinary proceedings and that the warden had been dismissed (commented on the case)
Protector of Citizens (Ombudsman): Two days before the death, his team recorded no abuse in the prison and rated the staff's work as good practice (responsible)
Zoran Pašalić: He said the prison and the Administration had acted on all the recommendations he had issued to them (oversight and the public)
Srđan Milivojević: He called for the dismissal of the justice minister and the Administration's director as those primarily responsible for the death (oversight and the public)
Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Special Department for Combating Corruption: Ordered the arrest of the cellmates and five staff members; charged the cellmates with aggravated murder and sought a year and a half in prison for each of the staff (investigation and courts)
Nenad Stefanović: He confirmed the arrest of four prison guards and the prison doctor (investigation and courts)
Higher Court in Belgrade: Convicted the three cellmates of aggravated murder in a non-final verdict, and the prison doctor and the shift leader of negligent performance of duty (investigation and courts)

Victims and others harmed

Stanimir Brajković