The group of four left Nikšić (MNE) on February 24, 2019. They took a bus to Vilusi (MNE) at the Bosnian border. They crossed the border by foot and slept in a forest for a few hours. Around noon on February 25, they reached the town of Bileća (BIH), where two male police officers noticed the group.

The four of them ran away, all in different directions. The respondent unfortunately ran into a blind alley and was caught. Both officers pushed him to the ground. One put his foot on his neck, the other started to beat him with a baton as the respondent asserted. In one of the houses in the alley, a window was opened, an elderly lady looked out and shouted at the police officers to immediately stop this.

“This woman saved me!”

The officers stopped, the respondent got handcuffed, and they were waiting for a car to pick them up. They drove him to the official border control of Deleuša (MNE). There he got asked by the officers to hand them out his money. He told them that he didn’t have any money on him beside the money he needed for the bus ticket to bring him back to the next town in Montenegro. The officers threatened him to never come back to Bosnia.

“If you come back, we break all your bones!”

After waiting for some time, they handed him over to the border control of Montenegro, without talking to them.

“You know Montenegro police don’t love Bosnia police.”

The Montenegrin authorities asked him what he did to be handcuffed and explained that handcuffing was unusual. They also asked him if he would like to go back to BIH.

When he said yes, the Montenegrin officers actually drove him back to the Bosnian border and he got off the car. He crossed the Bosnian border again and finally made it via Mostar to Sarajevo.

“The government makes war in our mind. I am here to take a rest.”