CONFIDENTIAL
YUGOSLAVIA
Report by HM Embassy, Belgrade
Right No.
(i) Imprisonment without trial is virtually
non-existent. The judicial system is generally efficient and relatively but not always speedy. Political offences are often dealt with under "catch-all" clauses in the legal code. Though
there may be more, the Yugoslavs say there are some 200 people imprisoned for political crimes (in a population of rather over 21 million).
(ii) We have no evidence that torture is
used systematically or with official approval. There are, however, cases of brutality as a result of over-zealous- ness on the part of security officers and police. (British citizens have been beaten up before questioning by the police.)
(iii)
Rating suggested by Post
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Slavery is non-existent.
O
(iv)
The media are carefully controlled. Public criticism of confirmed Government or Party policy is virtually nil. Dissident and especially nationalistic statements in public can result in imprisonment.
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(v) The Judiciary has the scope to act
independently but is subject to pressure, particularly in political cases, and in certain instances to instruction. (Tito once described certain judges who had displeased him in finding telephone tapping illegal as "drunkards clinging to the letter of the law like a fence".) The judiciary can and does on occasion restrict the freedom of access and expression of defence counsel. Defence lawyers in political cases can and often do present a genuine defence, though at some risk to themselves.
CONFIDENTIAL
/(vi)
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