WORLD BRIEFING / SERBIA
A Serbian Orthodox priest was removed as head of a church-backed drug rehabilitation center after a video broadcast on national television showed him beating a patient with a shovel.
Bishop Artemije said he removed Branislav Peranovic from his job leading the Crna Reka center in southern Serbia.
The bishop said the center would be closed if beatings recur, but he stopped short of shutting it down immediately.
Serbians were shocked by a video posted last week on weekly Vreme’s website showing a man beating and kicking a patient who was being held down at the rehab center, which is on an isolated plot owned by the Crna Reka monastery. A second video broadcast by Serbia’s B92 television apparently shows Peranovic beating a patient with a shovel.
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