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The Presumption of Justice
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Wikipedia article
'The Presumption of Justice' is a 2012 documentary film, directed by Boris Malagurski and Ivana Rajovi,[http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Kultura/Film-o-Brisu-Tatonu.lt.html A film about Brice Taton] Politika Newspaper | 27 June 2012[http://film.krstarica.com/l/filmovi/pretpostavka-pravde/ The Presumption of Justice] Krstarica film page it deals with the September 2009 murder of Brice Taton, a fan of Toulouse FC, who travelled to Belgrade, Serbia in order to support his club in its UEFA Europa League away match versus FK Partizan. The film focuses on the subsequent court case in Serbia which, resulted in a dozen FK Partizan fans being convicted of the crime. It argues that the handling of the case was negligent at both its investigative and trial stages, resulting in a miscarriage of justice in the case of Stefan Velikovi, one of the 12 convicted fans.[http://www.pressonline.rs/info/drustvo/271014/drugacija-istina-o-stradanju-brisa-tatona.html Drugaija istina o stradanju Brisa Tatona] PressOnline.rs
Synopsis
The film focuses on an incident in which French football fan Brice Taton died in Belgrade, and which led to 12 young people being sentenced to a total of 115 years of prison. On September 17, 2009, a fight broke out on Obiliev venac Square when Partizan fans attacked several Toulouse fans, which - the film claims - led to Brice Taton falling off a ledge and dying in a hospital ten days later.[http://www.alo.rs/stari-alo/Istina_o_smrti_Brisa_Tatona/48100 The truth about the death of Brice Taton] Alo Newspaper | 26 June 2012 According to the director Ivana Rajovi, one of the Partizan fans, Stefan Velikovi, couldn't have been a part of the fight, because he was getting a traffic violation ticket in Makedonska street several blocks away at the time the fight was taking place. In spite of Stefan having an alibi, he was sentenced to seven years in prison.[http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/kultura.71.html:385902-Najavljen-dokumentarac-o-Brisu-Tatonu A documentary about Brice Taton announced] Veernje Novosti Newspaper | 26 June 2012
The film chronicles several alleged inconsistencies between the statements of the accused and the court findings in the case, analyzing whether Taton was thrown off a ledge or had fallen while running away from the fight.[http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/Dnevni_magazin/story/229228/Bolje+100+krivih+na+slobodi+nego+jedan+nevin+u+zatvoru.html Interview with Boris Malagurski] Press Newspaper | 28 June 2012
The film alleges the trial was finished with record speed, and that the verdict didn't explain what happened that day, since none of the evidence provided answers to how Brice Taton fell off the ledge.[http://www.pecat.co.rs/2012/07/slucaj-taton-pretpostavka-pravde/ The Taton Case - The Presumption of Justice] Peat magazine | 5 July 2012 The film comes to the conclusion that the media and state and legal institutions misrepresented the case, and attempts to explain why this happened.[https://web.archive.org/web/20131029203222/http://www.pravda.rs/2012/06/26/slucaj-taton-u-novom-dokumentarcu-borisa-malagurskog/ The Taton case in a new documentary] Pravda Newspaper | 26 June 2012
Release
Theatrical
The film premiered in Belgrade on June 29, 2012,[http://www.24sata.rs/vesti/beograd/vest/premijera-filma-malagurskog-pretpostavka-pravde-o-slucaju-brisa-tatona/45285.phtml Premiere in Belgrade] 24sata, Source: Tanjug | 26 June 2012 with subsequent showings in Subotica,[http://www.subotica.com/vesti/vojvodjanska-premijera-novog-filma-borisa-malagurskog-id11546.html Vojvodina premiere] Subotica.com | 29 June 2012 Novi Sad, Ni,[http://www.radiocity.rs/kultura/1593/premijera-filma-%E2%80%9Epretpostavka-pravde%E2%80%9C-na-pravnom.html?print=true Ni premiere] RadioCity | 14 October 2012 Baka Palanka,[http://www.toobap.rs/sr/vesti/156:premijera-filma-pretpostavka-pravde Baka Palanka premiere] Tourist Organization of Baka Palanka | 1 October 2012 Zrenjanin,[http://www.ilovezrenjanin.com/tag/pretpostavka-pravde/ Zrenjanin premiere] IloveZrenjanin | 24 October 2012 Panevo,[http://rtvpancevo.rs/92.1-Info/Kultura/tribina-i-promocija-filma-qpretpostavka-pravdeq.html Panevo premiere] Radio Panevo Sremski Karlovci,[http://www.famns.edu.rs/vesti_/196_trbina-pretpostavka-pravde.html Sremski Karlovci premiere] F@M Management Faculty | 29 October 2012 Nova Pazova[http://www.dverisrpske.com/sr-CS/dveri-na-delu/2013/februar/premijera-filma-pretpostavka-pravde-u-novoj-pazovi.php Nova Pazova premiere] Dveri | February 2013 and other cities.While promoting his film, Malagurski stated that the Serbian media coverage of the case, specifically instances of the suspects being referred to as the "murderers who need to be punished severely" before the trial even began, whipped up the mass sentiments for political ends and created a societal atmosphere not conducive to determining facts and carrying out justice.[http://www.nspm.rs/hronika/boris-malagurski-postupak-vodjen-povodom-ubistva-brisa-tatona-je-najveca-sramota-srpskog-pravosudja.html Press conference report] NSPM | 26 June 2012 He called the court case itself "the biggest disgrace of the Serbian justice system".
Television
The film had its broadcasting premiere in April 2013 as a part of Malagurski's TV show on Happy TV, which also featured an interview with an alleged witness, Dragan Crepulja, who was not called to testify. In the interview, Crepulja claimed that he "saw it when the now deceased Taton fell, there was nobody next to him, not on the stairs, not by his side... I was two meters close to Taton when he fell, I immediately looked around, up and down, there was no one there, I can confirm that. I told this to the police officers who came."Threats controversy
In September 2012, the film's co-directors Boris Malagurski and Ivana Rajovi filed a criminal investigation request with the Belgrade public prosecutor's office against 12 members of the Parapsihopatologija internet message board for alleged "organized threats to their life and personal and professional safety", made under online forum nicknames after the premiere of 'The Presumption of Justice'. Upon investigation that began in July 2013, three of the 12 individuals (Rastislav Dini, Nemanja Poleksi, and Marko Nikoli), whose real-life identities were determined via local internet providers, were charged by the Belgrade prosecutor's office. In March 2014, Dini, Poleksi, and Nikoli were found guilty by the Higher Court in Belgrade, each being sentenced to a year in prison, suspended for 3 years of probation.[http://pescanik.net/2014/03/a-parody-of-justice/ A parody of justice (in English)][http://pescanik.net/parodija-pravde/ Parodija pravde( in Serbian)][http://www.vreme.com/cms/view.php?id=1185079 Lagumi foruma i sudski epilozi] After the court decision was declared, it was criticized by Milica Jovanovi and Dario Hajri writing on Peanik as well as Jovana Gligorijevi writing in 'Vreme'. They opined that Dini's, Poleksi's, and Nikoli's online remarks didn't constitute threats but merely insults while Gligorijevi further criticized various aspects of the production and financing of 'The Presumption of Justice'.
Malagurski's response to Gligorijevi's piece was published in 'Vreme' in early April 2014, disputing Gligorijevi's claims about the movie's production and financing. A few days later, a piece by Malagurski was published in 'Nova srpska politika misao', criticizing what he saw to be a tendency on the part of the Serbian politicians and media outlets that otherwise consider themselves to be liberal, civic-minded, and to be espousing Western values to characterize him as a "crybaby" over his decision to file a criminal investigation request for receiving online threats.[http://www.nspm.rs/polemike/akademski-huligani-kako-gradjanska-srbija-poziva-na-linc.html?alphabet=l Polemike | Akademski huligani - kako "graanska Srbija" poziva na lin] Boris Malagurski, NSPM.rs In a 'Politika' op-ed, historian edomir Anti criticized those in the Serbian public whose criticism of Malagurski was based on his decision to file a criminal investigation request for receiving online threats. Anti also criticized the then VP of the Government of Vojvodina Goran Jei for saying that Jei, as Anti quoted Jei's Twitter comment, "endorses everything they wrote", noting that their online remarks included threats of "explaining some things to Malagurski with a metal rod on his face", "closing one or both of Malagurski's eyes", and "advocating sexual violence against Malagurski and Rajovi".
Interviewees
* Radmila Dragievi Dii President of the Court of Appeal in Belgrade
* Tomo Zori spokesman for the Public Prosecutor of Serbia
* Milan kuli criminology professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Law
* Zora Dobrianin-Nikodinovi Belgrade based lawyer
* Slobodan Batrievi Velikovi family lawyer
* Slobodan Georgijev Belgrade based journalist
* Veran Mati former CEO of TV B92
* Loc Tregoures Assistant professor at the Universit Lille II
References
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