Serbian Actor Accused of Rape Denies Allegations to Police

The well-known Serbian actor and politican Branislav Lecic has denied raping the actress Danijela Stajnfeld, the Belgrade Higher Prosecutor's Office told BIRN.

Lecic was summoned to the police to give a statement on accusations of rape dating to 2012. He spent several hours in the police station on Friday.

"Branislav Lecic gave a statement to the police [and] … completely denied the allegations of Daniela Stajnfeld," the Prosecutor's Office told BIRN, adding that it will continue to gather evidence "in order to decide on the further course of the proceedings".

Stajnfeld was the first actress in Serbia to publicly speak out about rape and sexual abuse in the acting profession.

In September 2020, in her documentary, Hold me right, which deals with sexual violence, she said a powerful man from the film industry had raped her but did not name him. Stajnfeld said she had "survived rape four years ago in Serbia".

In a later statement, she said she did not name the perpetrator because she did not want that to become the focus of her film.

Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade on Monday confirmed that Stajnfeld had given a statement and that the suspect's initials were B.L.

That day, the investigative portal Insajder published an audio recording of Stajnfeld and Lecic talking about the rape and then an interview in which she said that he raped her in 2012.

During the audio recording, made in 2016, Stajnfeld can be heard telling Lecic she felt disrespected and endangered, to which Lecic said she should not felt like that because it had been his "expression of tenderness" - explicitly mentioning sexual contact.

When Stajnfeld then asked Lecic if that meant he did not respect her "no", Lecic answered:...