VICTORY! Kurir MADE inspectors FINALLY go into illegal care home OPERATING DESPITE BAN! There were people inside! (PHOTO)
After Kurir had been pointing out in its articles for over a month that the illegal nursing home Royal in Krnjača operated despite the ban issued to it on 9 August, the Social Welfare Inspectorate officials of the Ministry of Labour, assisted by the police, have finally entered the premises of this facility this afternoon! By way of reminder – all the residents had to have been moved out by 24 August at the latest, and the nursing home closed!
"Immediately upon entering the nursing home, the inspectors started the process of moving the residents out. Most residents were moved to state-owned social welfare institutions for housing the elderly, while the other residents were picked up by their relatives. The Ministry would like to note that in this case, the Social Welfare Inspectorate acted within its remit immediately upon being notified of the illegal operation of this facility, and that on a few occasions the inspectors failed to enter the facility and complete the inspection," the Ministry said in a statement:
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"The Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy filed a lawsuit on 19 September at the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade against Royal Ltd from Novi Sad due to illegal operation and preventing government officials from carrying out their duties."
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Today, during the morning, the Ministry of Labour's Social Welfare Inspectorate officials tried to enter the illegal nursing home Royal to carry out an inspection. The police were present as well, but no one opened the door.
A car owned by a woman employed at the home – if indeed this word is appropriate, given that Royal had to have been moved out and closed back on 24 August by order of the Inspectorate – was parked nearby. The police called her, but she said that she could not let them in. They then called Filip Jakšić, the owner of the illegal nursing home, but he did not answer the call.
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Eventually, they asked the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for a search warrant. The Kurir team was present in Krnjača throughout this.
"On 6 October this year, the Prosecutor's Office submitted to the court a proposal to issue an order to search the apartment and other premises. Once it is passed, the members of the Police Force will take further action based on it," the response to Kurir of the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office said, prior to the inspectors and the police entering the facility in the afternoon.
Biljana Zekavica, Assistant Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran, and Social Policy, said today afternoon in a statement for Kurir Television that the Inspectorate officials had tried to enter the nursing home earlier as well, but that heavy metal bars were placed there and that it was not possible to get in.
"Once the decision to ban operation is issued, it is our duty to check if the illegal service provider has acted in accordance with the decision and the measures that the Inspectorate officials imposed. In this case, the inspectors tried to verify the facts on multiple occasions, but they were not allowed to perform checks at the address in question a single time. We assume that the reason for that was that he still had some of the residents in, because otherwise he would have no reason to stop us."
The authorities acted urgently following today's article in Kurir, which pointed out that despite the court approval, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran, and Social Policy had not entered this illegal home for a month, even though it ordered on 9 August that it be closed, after we had discovered their illegal operation and the mistreatment of the residents.
Suzana Trajković
