ĐORĐEVIĆ v. CROATIA JUDGMENT
9
medical report also indicates that the first applicant had stumbled and
sprained his ankle and had also hit his head.
34. On 14 May 2010 the second applicant complained to the police that
on 13 May 2010 a boy, P.B., had pushed the first applicant against a wall
and had also taken his ball.
35. On 20 May 2010 the applicants’ lawyer wrote to the Zagreb
Municipality State Attorney’s Office complaining that since her last letter of
October 2009, there had been further incidents of violence and harassment
against the applicants. The relevant part of the letter reads:
“...
On 5 November 2009 two boys, one of whom was P., verbally abused the first
applicant, which scared him.
The second applicant informed the school counsellor about the incident but has not
received a reply.
On 14, 18 and 21 December 2009 a group of children threw snow at the applicants’
window and on one of those occasions covered their balcony with snow.
On 15 December 2009 a group of children verbally insulted the first applicant in the
street. On 22 February 2010 the second applicant was called by a social worker from
the Susedgrad Social Welfare Centre, J.S., who told her that the only way to resolve
the situation was to bring a civil action.
On 19 March 2010 the children kept throwing a ball at the applicants’ windows,
about which the police were informed. On 20 March 2010, while the first applicant
was riding on a bus, a group of children shouted his name, which upset him.
On 10 April 2010 a boy whose first name was R. hit the first applicant on the nose
with a ball, which disoriented him and caused him pain. The second applicant
informed the police about it. The police conducted a two-hour interview with her and
expressed their regret but informed the second applicant that nothing could be done
because any kind of inquiry would show that the children had only been joking.
On 13 May 2010 a group of children, including P., pushed the first applicant against
an iron fence in the park. He fell and hit his head and right leg. He was disoriented
and uncommunicative for three days.
On 18 May 2010, when the first applicant was sitting on a swing, a group of
children approached him and made obscene gestures and told him that he was stupid.”
36. On the same day the lawyer complained about the harassment of the
applicants to the Ombudswoman for Children and asked for advice.
37. The applicants alleged that on 24 May 2010 a group of boys hit the
first applicant’s head against an iron fence in the park and said that they
enjoyed it. A medical report in respect of the first applicant drawn up on the
same day indicates that he had been pushed against an iron fence and had hit
his head on it.