• Suspicious identity of “experts group”
• 'Baby mafia' touched
• Paper father

KRAGUJEVAC - Since the Prosecution from Kragujevac was excluded District prosecution from Raca was put to work on 50 accusations filed by parents who suspect their babies had been taken from the Clinic for gynecology and childbirth in Kragujevac. In the report signed by district prosecutors from Raca and Kragujevac it is said that the Prosecution from Raca proposed undertaking inquiry acts for 43 of the cases, while the rest are still being verified.

Harsh mistakes The prosecution also states that the health inspection of the Ministry of health in Serbia examined the administrative work of the Clinic centre in Kragujevac on January 9, 2003, on demand by one of the bearers of criminal accusations. The inspection found harsh and unacceptable mistakes in administration and stated them in the report. These mistakes are very skillfully used by “experts group”.

After the clarification with the inquiry judge bearers of criminal accusations have, in three cases, desisted from the process and two of them refused to do DNA test. In these cases there are so called ‘models’, i.e. cuttings taken during the autopsy of newborns so DNA analysis can, with certainty, confirm whether those are their babies or not. Bearers of the accusations declined DNA analyses “because they don’t believe in the Court and other state institutions”.

In four cases the bearers accepted DNA tests and, as it is stated in the report, the public will learn the results in due time. “In three other cases, where ‘models’ also exist, the bearers refused, arbitrated by self called “experts group”, to give any statements to the authorized inquiry judge and to declare about DNA tests. They did it on September 9, 2003 leaving the court without the judge’s approval and by the order of Verica Dobrosavljevic and Zivan Agatonovic”, it is stated in the two courts’ report.

“In particular, we want to introduce the public to the case of Mileva and Lazar Mikic who announced, in daily newspaper ‘Blic’ on May 17, 2003, that they “found their son after 21 years”. They had allegedly confirmed this with confidence by doing DNA test in Austria. When the judge demanded to see the analysis Mrs Mikic refused with explanation that “she needed it” and then, by the order of “expert” Verica Dobrosavljevic, she left the court.”

- In two other cases, where there are no ‘models’ the bearers again left the court rejecting to give any statements without the presence of “experts”. As it is stated in the report it was done on September 15th. In the mean time the prosecution has verified the documents used by “experts group” through the office of the High commissary for human rights of Serbia and Montenegro.

The seal of the UN office misused? The Office of the High commissary for human rights of Yugoslavia reported that “the office didn’t form experts group neither on their own nor with others”. It was confirmed that “the seal in the left corner of the document is the Office’s seal. Based on research we concluded that the document was brought into the Office by people who insisted on receiving the signature and seal as confirmation of their admittance. The signature belongs to one of the local members of our office and comes after the word “admitted” written in his handwriting. We don’t usually confirm that kind of admittances by the certified seal of our Office. In this case the mistake was made by our employee. The document, as it has been cleared, doesn’t come from our Office. This means that this “expert group” has formed itself and proclaimed them as experts in forbidden way, it is stated in the report of the District prosecution in Raca.

B.K.

Daily Jurnal GLAS JAVNOSTI, March 3, 2004. / Serbian source
The case of Milan Petrovic from Kragujevac heated the hope of those who claim their babies were stolen
'Baby mafia' touched

There are about two thousand families in Serbia with the same destiny

TRANSLATED

BELGRADEThe lives of Vladislava Tubic, Rada Pantelic and Nada Otasevic probably would have never been related if the fate hadn't, in it's own arrogant way of strange role cast, severely connected their stories with the same problem - searching for the truth about their long deceased children.

Their stories are identical with the stories of hundreds of other mothers who refused to believe the official versions of the sad ending of their newborns. In this way, they started a so-called 'baby affair', which is getting the size of a real 'epidemic'. According to the information of Vladislava, Rada and Nada, the number of mothers who suspect their children were stolen after birth to be sold later, has reached a thousand and a half only in Belgrade.

Regarding some data there are about two thousand more families in Serbia that suspect they lost their newborns in the same way. They are all in contact, helping each other. Their hopes have, somewhat, been heated by the case of Jovan and Bosiljka Groza from Switzerland who have, by DNA analysis, confirmed their suspicion that Milan Petrovic, 29 year old resident of Kragujevac, is actually their son, who allegedly died a few days after birth. In the early 80s Vladislava, Rada and Nada delivered healthy children who suddenly, just a few days after birth, got ill and soon died with diagnoses unacceptable for the three women. They were neither allowed to see the babies, except immediately after the delivery, nor were they enabled to identify the babies' bodies after death, take them and bury.

- Even though doctors today claim that everyone was allowed to take their babies' bodies and bury them themselves, we responsibly claim that that is a lie and that no family was not only not offered such possibility, but wasn't even proposed so. So, which mother refused to bury her child and to know where to kneel and cry, where to light a candle - the mothers ask.

The mothers opened 'Pandora's box' two years ago when, at the first hint of the mentioned 'baby affair', they decided to try to track down the documentation, which would either confirm the truth or revive their doubt. The latter happened.

- The documentation is in such chaos that it is, mildly told, scandalous. Starting from maternity hospitals, over the Town hall Savski venac all to the cemeteries where the children were supposedly buried, the papers hide such paradoxes that even a crazy person would comprehend that something is wrong - a pile of attentively gathered documentation in front of us, as a proof of mother's endurance and faith.

- According to that documentation it is very possible that a child is born by one surname and that it died by another. And not only that, in its first couple of days of life it manages to change the gender and to be registered as a male at one place and as a female at another; parents' data is incomplete or even completely wrong. Papers with the cause of death don't have names and signatures of a person that reported death, doctor's signatures, funeral procession, etc. It even happened that a child got its birth number or that its death was reported two years later - too many similarities in these three stories.

They've done what they were able to. Now it's all up to the police and the prosecution from which, they say, they have almost no help. Next to Vladislava's, Rada's and Nada's criminal accusations, filed to the First and the Second public prosecution against the Town hall Savski venac, maternity hospitals in its territory and a part of the staff of the hospitals, stand another several hundreds of accusations from other families. They want the truth whatever it is.

M. Medenica

NIS - Judges of the District courts in Nis, Krusevac, Prokuplje, Raca, Kragujevac and of the Second court in Belgrade have had their hands full for the last couple of months having to interrogate parents who think their children had been taken after birth and illegally handed to other married couples.

Enquiry procedures came after one year of parents’ frequent visits to hospitals, maternity offices, the police and courts. Before, their criminal accusations had been disregarded, with explanation of being obsolete. However, by order of the Republic prosecution, last summer many courts finally started investigations. In ‘guidebook’ of the Republic prosecution, initiated to district prosecutions, it is shown that a large number of accusations for criminal acts of taking away under aged people and alteration of family status have been filed.

As it has been ordered, in all cases public prosecutors had to ‘suggest undertaking certain enquiry acts against John Does, with delivery of complete supplied documentation, having deputies of the Republic prosecution, who are handling the case, present during the enquiry’.

The Republic prosecution concluded that due to general clearance of concrete cases, since there is explicit doubt of the parents that their children didn’t die but were sold to other families, it is necessary to demand questioning of the irregularities of registration of birth numbers by the police department. Revision of birth books has been ordered and, also, DNA analysis suggested.

It has also been recommended that parents should be told that DNA analysis could be done based on so called ‘models’, if there are any. At the same time, every bearer of criminal accusation will be heard in details. The whole documentation would be shown and they would be asked to declare about irregularities in delivery, death of the babies and official notes. After hearing about 50 parents who filed criminal complaints, public prosecutor from Nis, Aleksandar Petkovic, asked the Republic prosecution for instructions in further conduction of enquiry procedures.
- After consulting some colleagues from other towns I asked, among other things, for explanation of who was going to pay the bills of DNA analyses - Aleksandar Petkovic points out.

A group of parents from surrounds of Nis, Goran Stevanovic, Bozidar Cekic and Goran Gojkovic, have, in the mean time, asked the Republic prosecutor, Djordje Petrovic, what ‘steps’ should be taken after the note received from Nis.
- Ten families have found their ‘deceased’ children living with other, ‘paper’, parents and accept doing DNA analysis - says Bozidar Cekic from Nis. It is interesting that, in the enquiry procedures, the parents were asked to say if they suspect which doctors and midwives committed the mentioned criminal acts, as well as if they were familiar with the whereabouts of the child they claim not to be dead but alive.

In the name of science! A part of suspicious parents fear that enquiry procedures would end according to “British” and “Romanian” scenario. However, in Britain and Romania parents who didn’t get their babies’ bodies received declaration that they had, actually, finished in hands of scientists. The countries even generously confirmed they were ready to pay out the families. This is why parents in Serbia suspect that the same fraud may happen to them, that is that the scandal of the century would end by statement that there were no baby thefts, but the babies’ bodies were used “in the name of science”.

Parents, the bearers of criminal accusations have stated many names of ‘suspected’ people in white robes during the hearing at the District court in Nis and district prosecutor, Aleksandar Petkovic, asked the police department in Nis in October last year to find 13 that day’s and today’s doctors from the Clinic for gynecology and childbirth in Nis from “the list” and declare themselves on concrete suspicions that they had deliberately made false documentation for long time.

In the mean time, over two thousand suspicious parents announce they will file accusation to the Court of justice in Strasbourg against medical workers and employees of state services in Serbia who are suspected to be included in taking the children.
- We think that they committed criminal act in self-interest. By forging the documents the accused took part in taking the children, giving false identity and concealing the criminal acts - suspicious parents point out.
- We have documentation which proves that and, also, genetic analysis has been done. Domestic courts don’t recognize our claims and the justice even brought the decision which forbids the bearers of the accusations to come near and disturb other families.

Suspicious parents ask the courts to return the real identity to the children and to demand taking responsibility of all those included in such cases with remark that biological parents are not asking for their children to be returned since they don’t want to make new dramas and break families.

M. Ristovic