Published 17.12.2025. | Tena Mur
We appeal to all competent state authorities to immediately carry out all actions prescribed by law, bring the perpetrator to justice, and ensure timely, effective, and comprehensive support, protection, and assistance to all victims, as well as to their parents and guardians.
This case is, unfortunately, not an isolated incident, but represents yet another in a series of cases of violence in Croatian healthcare institutions. We therefore have every right to ask: are the citizens of the Republic of Croatia safe when accessing healthcare services? It is the responsibility of the state to provide us with safe and accessible healthcare. The question arises – does this actually work in practice?
At the beginning of last year, we alerted the public to the shocking case of a gynaecologist at the same hospital who, during 2021, committed indecent acts and rape during the examination of a patient. Despite the criminal proceedings initiated for one of the most serious criminal offences against sexual freedom, the doctor in question continued to work undisturbed until September 2024. Only then did he stop working, and according to the Croatian Medical Chamber, he was removed from the register of doctors at his own initiative. A non-final guilty verdict was delivered on 8 February 2024, while since April of the same year the case has been before the High Criminal Court. Shortly afterwards, the public also learned about the case of a specialist in general surgery from the Vukovar hospital, against whom criminal proceedings were conducted for attempted rape and indecent acts against nine patients and students of the Polytechnic in Vukovar, where the doctor taught. The offences were committed as far back as 2014 and 2015, and the doctor continued to work undisturbed for more than ten years. Only after our warning was he, by decision of the hospital management, transferred to a position without direct contact with patients. The verdict became final in September of this year, and an extraordinary dismissal was issued to him on 27 November 2025.
The amendments to the Health Care Act, which entered into force this year and for which we advocated together with the Office of the Ombudsman, were supposed to eliminate serious shortcomings in the legislative framework. However, according to the interpretation of the Ministry of Justice, Administration and Digital Transformation, these provisions apply exclusively to future cases. In practice, this meant that the Vukovar hospital could not immediately, upon the law’s entry into force on 24 July 2025, remove the doctor from his position while the criminal proceedings were ongoing, but had to wait for the final verdict.
The second-instance court ultimately found him guilty of a criminal offence against sexual freedom – attempted sexual intercourse without consent – and sentenced him to one year in prison. Due to the length of the proceedings and the delayed delivery of the verdict, the statute of limitations expired for the criminal prosecution of indecent acts, covering a total of nine criminal offences against eight victims. In addition, the offence of attempted rape was reclassified as a less serious criminal offence, in accordance with the legal provisions that were in force at the time the offences were committed.
We emphasise that healthcare institutions, as employers, were obliged under their internal regulations to initiate disciplinary proceedings before the competent chambers in order to temporarily suspend the doctors from duty until the completion of the criminal proceedings, which was not done. Furthermore, the judicial authorities had the legal possibility to remove the doctors from performing their professional activities during the proceedings, but this possibility was not used either.
From all the above cases, it is clear that the system does not protect victims, nor does it demonstrate zero tolerance for violence. Victims were not provided with adequate support, proceedings were not conducted effectively or in a timely manner, and patients were not guaranteed safe access to healthcare. It is particularly concerning that patients are not clearly and transparently informed about the ways to file complaints against the work of healthcare professionals. There are multiple competent bodies, yet there is no systematic oversight of how they handle received complaints. In all the mentioned cases, we have established that complaints did exist – but reactions were absent.
We ask: to what extent does the competent ministry actually supervise the work of healthcare institutions? How often and when does the health inspectorate carry out on-site inspections?
Since May 2025, the Centre for Peace – Osijek has been unsuccessfully trying to obtain access to the inspection report conducted at the Osijek Clinical Hospital Centre, despite the fact that the competent authorities, as public authorities, are obliged to act within the legally prescribed deadlines.
As citizens, we are deeply shaken by all these cases in eastern Croatia and we demand an urgent, decisive, and transparent reaction from all competent state authorities.
