Chinese whistleblower from Serbia claims brutality at hands of local police, deported to Bosnia

The Chinese national, who flagged illegal activities at the Loznica-based Mint plant, was aware she had overstayed her residency in Serbia. In the first half of February, she received a message from her lawyer to collect documents she believed would allow her to remain in Serbia for a further period. She travelled to Loznica with her daughter, unaware she was walking into a trap.

"Fifteen minutes later, three police officers arrived. One of them shoved us, roughly pulled my daughter, bundled us into a police car, and drove us to the station," the Mint whistleblower told N1 Belgrade.

The officers who carried out the arrest can be seen in a mobile phone photograph featured in our report. We asked Dusan Nikolic, a lawyer from Loznica, as to why he reported his own clients, given that the professional code of conduct explicitly forbids such actions.

He admitted to calling the police, claiming he did so due to what he described as their "indecent behaviour." However, a police document indicates he reported them because they were sitting in an entrance, which happened to be the address of his office. He declined to comment further on this discrepancy.

"Following a report by Nikolic Dusan in Loznica, Karadjordjeva 10, stating that two foreigners, female persons, most likely citizens of the PR China, are sitting in the entrance, the individuals were brought to the premises of the Loznica Police Station," the police ruling states.

At the Loznica police station, an ordeal began for the whistleblower and her daughter, who had travelled from China to assist her mother as she does not speak English. The daughter had overstayed her residency by only a single day and had failed to register her stay. The police decided to separate them, the daughter was to be automatically deported to Bosnia, while the mother was to be taken to the detention centre for foreigners in Plandiste. A man they identified as the shift leader or police chief was described as being highly aggressive.

An audio recording captures a conversation between the whistleblower’s daughter and a police officer responding in English.

Daughter: "Why do I have to go across the border?"

Officer: "Don't talk. Don't talk, understand?"

Daughter: "Why?"

Officer: "Don't talk."

Daughter: "Why?"

Officer: "You’d better shut up, so you don't get a slap, you cow."

The Chinese translator present at the station did not translate this exchange. The whistleblower repeatedly stated she had a right to a lawyer through the Chinese Embassy, but the lead officer insisted the ruling be signed immediately.

On the audio recording, the whistleblower can be heard crying, alongside an officer ordering her daughter: "Come here and sign. Where are you going? What are you doing? Here! Here! Right here!"

At that point, she says, three Serbian police officers turned to her daughter, knocked her to the floor, and began beating her.

"She refused to sign. The chief then punched my daughter in the chest. The translator said my daughter and I could not be taken away together. My daughter kept repeating that she wanted her mother to be taken with her, either to the border or the immigration centre. They said it was impossible. Then, three officers shoved my daughter into a vehicle and left her at the Bosnian border. I was left alone," the Mint whistleblower testified.

The deportation in this instance, as suggested by the audio recording, was carried out by stuffing the Chinese national into a police car, after which the officers casually turned on some music, which can also be heard on the tape.

Once left alone, the whistleblower also felt the wrath of the Serbian police.

"At that moment, other officers were pointing at me and shouting threats. Two officers pushed me back and forth. Another officer grabbed me by my clothes in the chest area and pushed me forcefully, causing my head to hit the wall painfully," she explained to N1.

Throughout this time, the translator remained in the station and stayed silent. She was identified as Dragana Jokanovic, who works as a translator for the Mint company.

"The other officers laughed at me mockingly. In the end, the chief smiled broadly, shook hands with the translator, and even hugged her, as if thanking her for helping them achieve something. At that moment, I realised they were acting as an organised group trying to break us, leaving us with no way out," the whistleblower pointed out.

The Interior Ministry did not respond to N1's questions regarding this case. The translator from Mint and the Sabac Bar Association have also remained silent.

"The police, the lawyer, the translator, and the judge are a protective umbrella for the Chinese management at Mint. I will expose them and report all the darkness they represent," the whistleblower said.

She will pursue this from Bosnia and Herzegovina where, after nearly two weeks, the mother and daughter are reunited but lack the funds for a ticket to China. They are banned from entering Serbia for the next year.