Today another woman was murdered. This murder took place in Novi Sad, she was murdered with a gun, while at her workplace. This woman had also reported the perpetrator for abuse prior to being murdered. She trusted the state and institutional representatives who have been repeatedly calling on victims to report abuse and saying that they’ll protect them. Her murderer had merely been given a restraining order (no contact, no approach), even though those working on her case in institutions knew that the perpetrator worked in a firearm store, that he is a hunter and that he would still have firearms at his disposal even after his registered firearms were taken away.

We are again faced with a situation, similar to that in Sanja M.’s case from Pirot, where the Basic Prosecutorial Office and/or Basic Court in Novi Sad took inadequate and lenient measures in relation to the real homicide risk in which I.R. found herself.

This is the fifth femicide case in 2023 committed by a firearm. As a reminder, 15 women have been murdered in Serbia since the year began, and two underage girls (16 and 2 years old) in a family-partner context.

How is it possible that everyone in Serbia knows that someone reported to authorities for abuse with access to weapons will use those weapons… everyone except prosecutors and judges, who either don’t see this as a possibility, or chose not to see it. We believe that one of the major factors leading to this femicide is the fact that there has never been one prosecutor, nor one judge in Serbia who have been held accountable for inaction, or for taking the wrong course of action.

We therefore demand answers to the following:

• - Did the Basic Prosecutorial Office in Novi Sad decide on holding the perpetrator in jail for 48 hours?
• - Was the Novi Sad Basic Court asked to issue a decision that the perpetrator be held in custody?
• - If so, why did the Basic Court in Novi Sad refuse this request?

We expect the High Court Council and High Prosecutorial Office to commence disciplinary measures against the judges and prosecutors who have made these murders of women in Serbia possible by not taking action at all or taking the wrong course of action.

We ask the National Parliament to organize a public hearing where MPs will request from relevant ministries and institutions a Report on Conduct and Conduct Monitoring in cases of femicide where the abuser was already reported to authorities prior to murder. All in the aim of determining whether any omissions were made, informing the public about it, and commencing procedures to sanction those responsible. React before the crime, not after it! Disarm Serbia!

For the Autonomous Women’s Center
Vanja Macanovic