GIRL STILL IN CUSTODY PENDING SOCIAL SERVICES ASSESSMENT

TUZLA, OCTOBER 6 /SRNA/ - A 15-year-old girl from Tuzla who was allegedly subjected to peer bullying and ethnic insults remains in detention with adults on suspicion of injuring two girls with a knife in a schoolyard.

Sources close to the detained girl's family claim that her detention is being prolonged because the University Clinical Centre /UCC/ has not provided information on her physical and mental health, while the Social Work Centre has yet to submit a social history report, including an interview with the girl about her difficulties, previous and current illnesses and family background.

"Until the UCC and the Tuzla Social Work Centre provide the documentation requested by the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office, she will remain in detention," a SRNA source said.

The Cantonal Prosecutor's Office has charged the girl with attempted murder and attempted infliction of serious bodily injury in a case involving two girls from Gornja Tuzla Primary School.

Concerns have been raised that keeping a minor in detention violates her rights, while citizens protesting the case have warned that being held with adults could have a negative impact on her physical and mental health. She nevertheless remains in custody.

The Tuzla UCC told SRNA that questions about why the girl's medical records had not been provided should be addressed to the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office. At the Social Work Centre, a person who answered the phone said they were not familiar with the requested information and provided another number, which went unanswered.

The Tuzla Canton MoI Police Administration said on September 4 that the 15-year-old girl had injured two other girls, both aged 14, with a bladed weapon and that they received medical treatment at the UCC.

At the request of the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office, the Tuzla Municipal Court ordered one month of detention for the girl on September 7.

Her detention was later extended for another month because, according to prosecutors, the necessary expert examinations were still under way, with the involvement of the Social Work Centre and other relevant institutions.

Federal media reported that the mothers of the injured minors said the "attacker had been problematic before" and that the injured children had been left traumatized.

Sources close to the detained girl's family, however, claimed the opposite, saying she had been subjected to peer bullying for two years by the same two girls whom she later physically confronted.

They allegedly called her names including "Chetnik girl", "you’re a Serb" and "you eat pork". The school administration had been informed, but, according to the sources, the matter repeatedly ended with assurances that it would not happen again.