Notorious Bully from Kaštela Rapes 20-Year-Old in Prison
Victim's family reports repeated abuse, suspicion of cover-up. Split police forward case to DORH.
Victim's family reports repeated abuse, suspicion of cover-up. Split police forward case to DORH.
In the prison at Split's Bilice, a horrific crime allegedly occurred, a 20-year-old man reported that he was repeatedly raped in his cell by 45-year-old Silvio Knežević, a notorious bully and leader of the Kaštela taxi mafia. According to information from Slobodna Dalmacija and Jutarnji list, the report was filed by the family of the detainee, and the Split police confirmed that they received the criminal complaint and forwarded the report to the County State Attorney's Office.
The police stated that all measures within their jurisdiction were taken in cooperation with the investigating judge. "Regarding the inquiry about the criminal offense of rape, the police received the criminal complaint and took all measures within their jurisdiction in cooperation with the County State Attorney's Office and the investigating judge, and submitted a report to the County State Attorney's Office for further action," the Split police said for Slobodna Dalmacija.
According to unofficial information, the sexual assaults occurred over a longer period, and other detainees were aware of them. The young man was allegedly abused at the end of the walk, when others would return to their cells, but also in the room where other inmates were present. The report states that this was not a matter of indecent acts, but of the criminal offense of rape or acts equivalent to rape.
The young man managed to report the case with the help of his parents, after which he received medical treatment at the hospital. There are also suspicions that an attempt was made to cover up the entire case. The question arises whether the judicial police officers responsible for security knew about the abuse and remained silent, or were completely unaware of it. Slobodna Dalmacija emphasizes that the victim's family had to report a criminal offense that prison services either did not know about or tried to cover up.
Silvio Knežević (45) from Kaštel Stari is well known to the police and the judiciary. In April this year, he was arrested after breaking the jaw of a 57-year-old man in a café in Kaštel Stari. The attack occurred while he was on parole with electronic monitoring. At the end of last year, he was released from serving a sentence in Slovenia for migrant smuggling, and in February this year, by a decision of the Split court, his prison sentence in Croatia was replaced with parole.
The suspect allegedly committed the same type of crime against another inmate ten years ago. The Municipal State Attorney's Office ordered him into investigative detention after the April attack, and now he faces a new, even more serious complaint.
In addition to the rape report, two other serious incidents have been recorded at the Bilice prison in the last two weeks. Three days ago, an inmate died from thrombosis, and on Tuesday, some inmates attempted to start a fire in a cell. The Split police reported on these events that there was no need for their intervention and that no suspicion of criminal elements was established.
Inquiries about all incidents have been sent to the Ministry of Justice, Administration, and Digital Transformation and the Prison System Administration. Responses are expected, and Slobodna Dalmacija particularly emphasizes that they are interested in whether any of these incidents will lead to dismissals among those responsible at the Split Prison.
