In the documentary film “Precedent”, director Tamara Aćimović recorded testimonies of victims of police brutality. The film, which premiered in January on Nova TV, will also be screened at today’s protest in Valjevo, marking six months since the unprecedented police violence in the city. Aćimović stated that her goal was to create a testimony of a crime that all of Serbia needs to know about.
In a live appearance on N1 Television, Aćimović said the scale of police brutality that occurred that night was something neither Valjevo nor Serbia has seen in its history.
In addition to survivor testimonies, the film includes video footage that was shared on social media. Aćimović emphasized that these videos were crucial in supporting each statement with authentic, citizen-recorded evidence.
“Without these videos, this event might have been forgotten or somehow neutralized, which is very characteristic of the current times in Serbia. I managed to reach people who gave statements backed by these authentic recordings, which I believe adds a unique weight and presents the truth in a way that no one can dispute,” she explained.
According to the director, the film focuses only on the events of the night of August 14, 2025.
“Many, many things happened that are not included in the film, which are equally horrifying and need to be told to show the full scale of this police crime. There are probably recordings taken by the police themselves from locations where there was also significant brutality, including assaults on minors and random beatings of people on the street and passersby,” Aćimović said.
Addressing why such extreme force was used, she stated that the operation was definitely a coordinated and premeditated police action.
“Police officers came from surrounding stations in Osečina, Mionica, Lajkovac, as well as from Prijepolje, Priboj, Užice, which shows that these were not isolated incidents of violence by the Valjevo police that night. Rather, it was an action intended to intimidate people and prevent student and civic protests,” the director concluded.
