Baliqi: Police inspectorate took over case after report that police officers beat a person in Dren

Erduan Baliqi, head of planning and operational assessment for the regional operations of the Kosovo Police in the Mitrovica North region, told Kosovo Online that, after a person reported being beaten by police officers in Dren, the Kosovo Police Inspectorate took over the case.

Baliqi said that last night, after 9 p.m., police received information from the hospital in North Mitrovica that a person had sought medical assistance.

“Last night, after 9 p.m., we received information from the hospital in Mitrovica that a person had sought medical assistance. We immediately responded to the call. When we went to the hospital, the person reported that someone had beaten him in Dren. As soon as he said that he had been beaten by police officers, we immediately called the Police Inspectorate. From that moment on, the Police Inspectorate is responsible for the case. We do not know exactly what happened in Dren or whether force was used on that occasion. However, the Police Inspectorate is now responsible and it will conduct the investigation in this case,” he said.

Baliqi said that the Kosovo Police Inspectorate will handle the proceedings if it is established that members of the Kosovo Police were involved in the incident.

“If it is established that police were involved in this case, the Police Inspectorate will certainly handle the proceedings, as it is responsible for this case. Everything is now under the jurisdiction of the Police Inspectorate. The Police Inspectorate will investigate everything and establish who was involved, that is, whether it was a police officer or someone else. The Police Inspectorate will verify all of this. We are not responsible for conducting this case. As soon as it is mentioned that a police officer is involved in a case, the matter is referred to the Police Inspectorate, which then takes over the case,” Baliqi said.

Nenad Raskovic from Dren said last night to Kosovo Online that three police officers first beat him at his home yesterday, and later handcuffed him, took him into the woods and tied him to a beech tree. They demanded that he give them a rifle, which, he said, he did not have.

Raskovic was admitted to the Kosovska Mitrovica Clinical Hospital Center yesterday due to the injuries he sustained.