Video of Police Beating Sparks Anger in Montenegro

An investigation has been launched by Montenegrin police and the prosecution into a video showing several Montenegrin police officers brutally beating two men in the capital, Podgorica, over the weekend.

The video, which was released by IN4S news portal, sparked sharp reactions from local media and on social networks, and forced the chief of police, Slobodan Stojanovic, to sack the commander of the special police unit in Podgorica, Milan Radusinovic.

The public is calling for a thorough investigation into the attackers and for sharp penalties to be enforced.

This is not the first time that the special police task force, SAJ, has been accused of brutality; in October 2015, the SAJ's anti-terrorism unit was involved in a crackdown on opposition protesters, which led to investigations into the abuse of police power and the possible use of torture.