Could Mika Aleksic get away with it? The judge explained how the process would go!

Milena Radulović and Mika Aleksić, Photo: Alo.rs/ATA Images

Penalties for rapists in Serbia have been closer to the legal minimum than the maximum for years. The case of the arrest of acting school teacher Miroslav Mike Aleksić for raping his students brought Serbia to its feet and raised the question: what would have happened if Milena had been the only one to accuse him? Is the testimony of one person enough?

Retired judge Omer Hadziomerovic explains that the judicial or criminal process that must be followed if a person is suspected of having done so, the state authorities must act and the fact is processed ex officio, and the number of victims is irrelevant and the number of acts committed . it is important that there is a suspicion that someone did it.

The judge points out that suspicion is synonymous with criminal proceedings and that the stage of the criminal process depends on the degree of suspicion, on its strength, so the prosecutor conducts an investigation when there are grounds for suspicion, when there are some circumstances that indicate that something could have happened.

– To order the arrest there must be a higher degree of suspicion, there must be a well-founded suspicion, and for a court to come, since the investigation is directed by the prosecutor and not the court, there must be a justified suspicion and then the accusation is confirmed . When the prosecutor collects evidence that a person has committed a crime, he presents it to the court, and the court automatically confirms the accusation, examines whether it is well composed and whether there is so much suspicion that it justifies the criminal process – the judge explained and pointed out. that it is not the court who tests and determines, but the prosecutor who must prove their claims and gather evidence.

After seven years, how difficult is it to determine what happened and prove the crime?

– It is difficult to prove any crime when so much time has passed, the witnesses have pale memory, there are no material traces, it is certainly more difficult. If the crime is reported, biological traces can be obtained immediately – Hadziomerovic said, explaining whether the fact that Aleksic was reported by twenty other girls facilitates the testing procedure.

– There will be a need to hear more witnesses, the prosecutor issued an order to carry out an investigation of eight criminal acts of rape and seven illegal sexual acts, which means that he assessed that there are grounds to suspect that he committed that act and now he needs to gather all the evidence . and put them in such a way that they are valid in judicial proceedings. In the crime of rape, the prosecutor must collect evidence that proves the facts that show that the intercourse was carried out by force, due to the use of force or threat by the accused. These are the circumstances that the prosecutor must prove – affirmed the respected judge.

However, he says, the key evidence is the victim’s testimony, and all other evidence presented must support the victim’s testimony.

– There is also a free judge’s certificate. The court may rule on the basis of evidence if it is convinced and provides reasonable reasons why it believed that evidence, but other evidence is often collected as well, Hadziomerovic said.