In the following days, #Croatia will request reconsideration of the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights issued on Nov 18 last year, determining Croatia’s responsibility in the #death of a 6-year-old refugee, #MadinaHussiny, reports Jutarnji list.
Madina Hussiny from #Afghanistan, died on Nov 21, 2017 on the Šid-Tovarnik #railway track after her mother and six other children were intercepted by the Croatian #police officers and forced to return to #Serbia. During the #pushback, the officers directed them all the way onto the train tracks where little Madina was #killed by an incoming train.
According to a report by the Serbian Interior Ministry, Madina was separated from her mother and taken to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries shortly after. Her mother was deported to the Serbian side of the border.
The girl's family lodged a constitutional complaint with Croatia before the #ECHR. A verdict against Croatia was handed down last November, saying the state must pay the family €40 000.
As Index reports, the court found that "the investigation into the girl's death had been unsuccessful, the applicant's children had been abused" and that “some of the applicants have been pushed back, prevented from seeking asylum and denied access to a lawyer”. As reported by 168, the investigators also did not check the inconsistencies in the police reports and did not compare the GPS data from the deceased girl's family's mobile phone with the data from the police car.
The news that Croatia will submit a request for reconsideration of the verdict was confirmed by the head of the government office for the representation of Croatia before the Court in Strasbourg, Štefica Stažnik, writes Index.
Previously, an activist Dragan Umićević, who tried to help Madina’s family request asylum, was charged with a misdemeanor, requiring him to pay €50 000, serve 2 years in prison and stop his work in the organization Are You Syrious. The charge was later reduced to 40 000 HRK, reports Jutarnji.
Such conduct shows that Croatia not only criminalizes refugees, but also solidarity, directly going against the EU values of freedom and human rights.