Maurizio Massari, first left, and Vladimir Bozovic, second left
Author:
Tanjug
Bozovic said that according to data of the MUP Inspectorate General, 56 criminal complaints against 70 police officers have been filed in the past eight months.
Noting that only six complaints were filed from June 2003 to April 2004, when the Inspectorate General was formed, Bozovic said that this signifies improvement in the system.
He said that this is a historical day for the police because for the first time citizens are publicly invited to report police malpractices to an official institution, which will investigate the case and inform the citizen of their findings.
The Inspector General said that by April this year, the service had been receiving 60 complaints a month and that this number now is around 300. He said that this demonstrates that citizens now feel bolder and show a high degree of confidence in this service.
Massari said that similar campaigns will be organised in other large cities in Serbia so that citizens throughout the country could get familiar with their rights.
The leaflet, jointly published by the Inspectorate General and the OSCE Mission to Serbia-Montenegro, has been patterned after a leaflet of England's Independent Commission for Police Complaints. The procedure of filing a complaint against improper police actions is explained through a series of eight questions and answers.