Miroslav 'Mika' Aleksic

Three professors attended. After one left, "seeing where the evening was heading," another grabbed her knee under the table, said Elena. The third, kissing and licking her hand, asked her for sex. In return, he said he would allow her fellow students to complete the course he had expelled them from because of their participation in the protests.

Pursuit of justice

He was one of at least 608 people convicted of sex crimes in Serbia between 2016 and 2020.

But eight years is more than many convicted rapists are jailed for in the Balkan country, where, according to a BIRN investigation of data for the last five years, half were sentenced to five years or less, five years being the minimum sentence under the law since 2017.

Belgrade Higher Court on Monday evening ordered a 30-day custody remand for well-known acting teacher Miroslav 'Mika' Aleksic, who is accused of raping several female pupils, at least one of whom was a minor at the time.