Croatian Family Beaten in Tuzla
More than a month after the brutal attack in the Slatine neighborhood, the Erdeljac family faces silence from authorities and the threat that the only one charged will be the mother who defended her son and husband.
More than a month after the brutal attack in the Slatine neighborhood, the Erdeljac family faces silence from authorities and the threat that the only one charged will be the mother who defended her son and husband.
More than a month after being beaten in the Slatine neighborhood of Tuzla, members of the Croatian Erdeljac family are still waiting for justice. Samira Erdeljac, who rushed to help her son Deni and husband Zvonimir while attacker Samir Berbić struck them with brass knuckles and a pistol grip, remains the only one against whom a misdemeanor charge has been filed. The family has reached out to numerous institutions, but they claim no response has come.
According to Samira Erdeljac, the nighttime terror did not end with the arrival of the police. While Berbić fled and was only stopped by a neighbor, Samira was taken into custody. At the police station, as she recounted to Slobodna Dalmacija, she experienced physical and psychological mistreatment at the hands of six officers, including being hit and thrown down the stairs.
Desperate over the turn of events, Samira, through her lawyer, filed complaints and contacted a number of addresses. "I wrote to the ombudsman, the police director, the police commissioner, their Professional Standards Unit, and the City Council commission, but all I got were two return receipts confirming receipt of my letters," she stated. She also contacted the federal Minister of Interior, Ramo Isak, but his associate directed her to the Tuzla station. There, she says, she was met by an officer who claimed to be hearing about it for the first time.
In early August, the criminal investigation unit contacted her and proposed a meeting, but her lawyer, who was away at the time, advised her not to go without him. A similar call was made to her son Deni, a senior and exemplary student, asking what he remembered and whether he stood by his statement. The same questions were posed to the neighbor who was the only one to come to their aid and apprehend the attacker. "They are actually trying to cover up the whole case through fear. We feel like clay pigeons," Samira Erdeljac said.
While the family fears Deni might end up with a police record, the attacker, Samir Berbić, according to their claims, moves about freely. "In the days after the attack, Berbić even came to our building and took things out of the apartment, which he apparently used for some shady dealings. The police don't care about that, but they do care about silencing us," Samira said. The family left Tuzla at the end of July and plans to return early this week to a city they never left even during the hardest days of the war. Zvonimir is still recovering from a broken leg, and Deni, besides physical injuries, is also battling severe trauma.
You know what it's like when everyone is silent and plays dumb in public, but when they see you face to face, they melt with solidarity! I know I won't allow my son, who is a senior and exemplary student, to end up with a police record after all this, while the attacker walks free.
Samira Erdeljac is not giving up. "What kind of mother would I be if I forgot those terrible sounds of the blows Berbić inflicted on my son?! That is a greater trauma than the one inflicted on me by six police officers when they beat me at the station and threw me down the stairs. All of this doesn't allow me to give up until justice is served," she concluded.
