Jovana Popović and Rock and Roll Justice: "SCUM"
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Jovana Popović is arrested for quarantine violations and she was not even told she was quarantined
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03/27/2020 Milica Vojinović
Photo: Jovana Popovic (private archive)
Twenty-four-year-old Jovana Popovic, from Kikinda, is in custody in Zabela after being arrested three days ago for allegedly violating a quarantine measure, which she claimed was not notified - nor had she received a formal home isolation order. The Committee on Human Rights Lawyers (YUCOM) say they have been approached by more citizens who are in a similar situation.
The day before the state of emergency, Popovic came to Serbia from Montenegro on March 14, where she performed with the Kikinda Wind Orchestra.
At the border, she claims, she was not served a decision on mandatory isolation because of the coronavirus pandemic situation, only a police officer told her that if she was in the country where the epidemic of the virus was active, she would reduce contacts in the next 14 days.
No cases of this disease were identified in Montenegro at the time, and Popovic, in line with what she was told, as she stated at a prosecution hearing, reduced her contacts. She thought she should leave her home.
Ten days after her return to Serbia, however, she was arrested while at her boyfriend's house.
Criminal proceedings were instituted against her for allegedly violating the Serbian Government's Order on the Implementation and Organization of the Quarantine, which was issued on March 17, three days after it crossed the border.
The Prosecutor attached as evidence the Ministry of Health record stating that she had been verbally told that she was in quarantine and who did not have the name and signature of the officer who allegedly communicated her isolation.
The document does not have the number, the date it was made, nor the stamp.
Her lawyer appealed against the Prosecution's proposal to have her detained for up to 30 days and pointed out that this evidence was invalid.
However, the court ordered her into custody and she is now in the investigative department of the Zabela prison.
KRIK's interlocutors agree that this case is problematic.
"Her arrest is completely illegal," said lawyer Vladimir Gajic. "You cannot be in isolation and have no solution on mandatory isolation."
He recalls that it was not until March 18 that the government was informed that the Government had made the decision to announce such decisions orally - four days after, according to the prosecution, Jovani had just been announced in that way.
Jovan's case is not alone, according to the Human Rights Lawyers Committee (YUCOM), adding that more citizens have already approached them for help, who are in a similar situation.
"In a state of emergency, it is possible to restrict individual human rights, however, if citizens are not adequately informed about their rights and obligations, we have a serious threat to the right to legal certainty," Milena Vasic of YUCOM tells KRIK.
She added that in such situations it is necessary for all citizens exposed to emergency measures to receive clear instructions as to what measures apply to them, how long they are, what their rights and obligations are, and what are the legal consequences of non-compliance with these measures. .
KRIK reporters have contacted the Kikinda prosecutor's office, but have not been answered questions regarding the case before the release of the text.
Twenty-four-year-old Jovana Popovic is engaged in singing, and in her work expresses criticism of the current authorities in Serbia. At the beginning of the year, she released the song "Bagra" with the support of the Citizens' Association "New Optimism" in which she criticized the current regime. She also performed this track at an opposition rally on the occasion of the boycott of this year's Kombank elections in February this year.
