Serbia Forensic Experts Document 25 Injuries After Valjevo Crackdown
Forensic medicine specialist Djordje Alempijevic said serbia’s police response in Valjevo left injuries across 25 examined protesters and detainees, including one man whose bruising covered his back, torso, arms and legs. Alempijevic and Slobodan Nikolic said the patterns they documented after the August 2025 crackdown pointed to force used as punishment, not only control.
The findings land as hundreds of people gathered in Valjevo on Thursday to mark nine months since the crackdown, which followed anger over the authorities’ failure to punish those responsible for the collapse of a concrete canopy at a newly renovated railway station in northern Serbia that killed 16 people the previous November.
Valjevo injuries examined
Alempijevic said he and Nikolic assessed 25 people who were injured after the Valjevo crackdown. One man’s written testimony said he was struck repeatedly while lying on the ground and then again at the local police station. Alempijevic described the bruising on that man as “Essentially all over his body,” and said the injuries were consistent with being struck with a baton at least 28 times.
Reports from Valjevo hospital pointed to the same type of bruising. Alempijevic said additional bruising on the neck may have been caused by fists or feet, while the most common injuries in Valjevo were caused by police batons.
Dacic defends police conduct
Ivica Dacic said police officers “attack no one” and added, “If attacked, they defend themselves,” when speaking to reporters about the police response. Alempijevic said the baton injuries were primarily to the back, lower back, flanks, buttocks, thighs and upper arms, while he and Nikolic frequently noted abrasions to the elbows, knees and forearms.
Alempijevic also said nose fractures, kidney contusions and extensive muscle tissue damage were documented in some cases. He said, “These patterns indicate that in a significant number of the analysed cases, the use of force had a punitive rather than exclusively controlling character,” a judgment that directly conflicts with Dacic’s description of police conduct.
Accountability in western Serbia
The protest unrest in western Serbia followed anger over the lack of punishment for those responsible for the railway station canopy collapse. A student protester speaking in front of the police station in Valjevo asked who the police officers were who beat children and citizens on the streets that day, and said the issue was one of “accountability, justice and basic trust in institutions.”
Alempijevic said he and Nikolic were commissioned to investigate by the injured people or their lawyers. The police did not respond to a request for comment, leaving the forensic findings and the interior minister’s account in direct dispute as the public reckoning in Valjevo continues around what happened on 14 August and who will be held to account.
