The European Court of Human Rights announced that the Government of Serbia officially admitted that there were shortcomings in the previous investigation into the murder of a guardsman in Topcider in 2024 and that it committed itself to a new, thorough and impartial investigation
European Court of Human Rights accepted the solution based on the agreement reached between the families of the killed guardsmen at Topchider in 2004 and Government of Serbia, which means that no verdict was reached, but a peaceful settlement was reached.
That court announced that the Government of Serbia officially admitted that there had been a violation of the right to life, that is, that there were omissions in the previous investigation, and undertook to conduct a new, thorough and impartial investigation under supervision high state prosecutor.
The European Court of Human Rights transmitted the statement of the Government of Serbia in which the Government "expresses its recognition, with regret, of the violation of the rights of the applicants in connection with the procedural side of Article 2 of the Convention, resulting from the shortcomings in the investigation of the death of Mr. Dragan Jakovljević and Mr. Dražen Milovanović."
It was stated that within the framework of that decision, the Government undertakes to ensure the implementation of an efficient official investigation in accordance with the relevant judicial practice of the Court.
In addition, the Government of Serbia will pay 30.000 euros to each of the applicants, i.e. to the families of the victims, as compensation for all material and non-material damages, costs and expenses.
The payment will be made within three months from the date of notification of the Court's decision, with the possibility of calculating interest in case of delay.
"Within this decision, the Government undertakes to ensure the implementation of an effective official investigation in connection with the deaths of Mr. Dragan Jakovljević and Mr. Dražen Milovanović. The investigation will be conducted under the close supervision of the High Prosecutor and in full compliance with the principles established by the Court's relevant jurisprudence," the statement added.
Guardsmen of the Army of Serbia and Montenegro, Dragan Jakovljević and Dražen Milovanović, were found dead in front of the "Karaš" military facility in Topčider on October 5, 2004, and there are no indictments or suspects for that crime yet.
Military the investigation claimed that it was a murder-suicide, while an independent state commission found that they were killed by a third person. In 2011, the families appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which in November 2020 decided to reject the lawsuit against the Serbian state, with the explanation that "not all domestic legal remedies have been exhausted."
The judgment of the Court in Strasbourg was passed after consideration of the petition, after the domestic court rejected the lawsuit of the Jakovljević family against the former military investigative judge Vuk Tufegdžić, who led the military investigation after the death of the Guardsman.
Non-governmental organization Women in black on the eve of the 21st anniversary of the death of Milovanović and Jakovljević, she requested that the state authorities immediately end the obstruction of the investigation of the murder and to announce the truth about their deaths.
The truth about the hiding of Ratko Mladić in Army facilities was also requested, because it is "the only way for Serbia to move away from the war past and the crimes committed in its name."
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