Belgrade, March 19th 2023 – We, the undersigned, members of the Women against Violence Network are surprised by the State Prosecutorial Council’s decision made on March 17th 2023 about the list of candidates for Deputy High Public Prosecutor in Belgrade.
The State Prosecutorial Council has classified deputy prosecutor Gorjana Mircic Calukovic, the coordinator for gender based violence at the High Prosecutorial Office in Belgrade who had been referred to that position from the basic public prosecutorial office, as 34th out of a total of 43 candidates.
The Women against Violence Network has been working with deputy prosecutor Gorjana Mircic Calukovic for more than 15 years. We find it incredible that after talking with members of the State Prosecutorial Council, Gorjana Mircic Calukovic received 17.3 points (out of 20) when it is very well know that she:
- Was a member of work groups for developing the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, and developing the Strategy for Preventing and Combating Gender Based Violence against Women and Domestic Violence,
- In the past six years has held training sessions on implementing the law not just for her colleagues but also for professionals from other institutions (police, judiciary, centers for social welfare, medical and educational institutions, national employment service…), and media[1], students, and civil society organizations,
- That trainings which she held as a lecturer at the Judiciary Academy were cited by the Ministry of Justice as examples in their reports on activities taken in relation to violence against women, in relation to Chapter 23 of the EU accession negotiations,
- That she is the editor and author of educational materials on the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, which can be found on the Ministry of Justice’s website – “Turn off Violence”[2].
Everyone who has ever had the honor of meeting deputy prosecutor Gorjana Mircic Calukovic knows for certain that she has excellent skills as a lecturer and orator [3]. We are therefore left wondering whether the low score she received came about as a result of personal animosity of members of the State Prosecutorial Council in relation to the topic she works on, and has specialized in.
The State Prosecutorial Council did not take into consideration that in the eight months she has been holding the position of coordinator for gender based violence, deputy prosecutor Gorjana Mircic Calukovic has:
- Organized the first meeting of the High Public Prosecutorial Office in Belgrade with representatives of civil society organizations which provide services and support to victims of violence[4], thereby establishing cooperation that had never before existed in Belgrade, or in Serbia,
- Improved and reorganized the work of the Assistance and Support for Victims Service at the High Public Prosecutorial Office in Belgrade and connected it with relevant contacts in the same service in all basic prosecutorial offices in Belgrade, via video link to an online space [5], which is also available to basic public prosecutorial offices,
- Contributed to leveling out of conduct procedures among basic prosecutorial offices in relation to the work of 16 Groups/Subgroups for coordination and cooperation on the territory of Belgrade, with active participation of representatives from the High Prosecutorial Office at group meetings where cases in jurisdiction of the HPO’s office were discussed [6],
- Supported and assisted in transferring how the Second Basic Public Prosecutorial Office conducts itself in relation to economic empowerment of women victims of violence to other basic public prosecutorial offices in Belgrade, by actively involving representatives of the City Center for Social Welfare, National Employment Service, and organizations from the civil society sector which provide assistance and support to victims, and she participated in the development of the Guidelines on Conduct [7],
- At the initiative of the Women against Violence Network, she organized a meeting with members of the Advocacy Group of Women With Experiences of Violence and representatives of the High Prosecutorial Office in Belgrade [8], so that deputy prosecutors could hear these women’s experiences – who have been harmed by criminal offence proceedings – and their suggestions for improving how prosecutorial offices conduct themselves in relation to victims.
It therefore seems that the State Prosecutorial Council either didn’t want to or couldn’t properly value the work of deputy prosecutor Gorjana Mircic Calukovic.
With their decision the State Prosecutorial Council has sent a message that they are not interested in improving the rights of victims of gender based violence, as they haven’t been interested in thus far seeing as they never commence disciplinary proceedings against their colleagues who enable murders of children and women in Serbia by either inaction or taking the wrong course of action.
- The Autonomous Women’s Center
- Roma Center for Women and Children – Daje
- Victimology Society of Serbia
- Astra
- Atina
- Out of Circle Belgrade
[1] https://bg.vi.jt.rs/aktuelnosti/saopstenje-269/
[2] https://iskljuci-nasilje.rs/preuzmi-2/
[3] Način na koji gospođa Mirčić Čaluković predaje i govori možete pogledati na https://youtu.be/yOCHPhr51CA
[4] https://bg.vi.jt.rs/aktuelnosti/saopstenje-274/
[5] https://bg.vi.jt.rs/aktuelnosti/saopstenje-348/, https://www.blic.rs/vesti/hronika/saslusana-poslednja-zrtva-profesora-jahanja-koji-je-osumnjicen-za-silovanja/p0239n8
[6] https://bg.vi.jt.rs/aktuelnosti/saopstenje-238/
[7] https://bg.vi.jt.rs/aktuelnosti/saopstenje-388/, https://www.blic.rs/vesti/hronika/vjt-izradilo-prirucnik-za-osnazivanje-zrtvi-porodicnog-nasilja/hvz1pxq
[8] http://www.atina.org.rs/sr/prepoznavanje-pojma-i-statusa-%C5%BErtve-od-preke-potrebe-za-dostizanje-pravde