Slavica Stanojčić, one of the most beautiful women from Užice and an alleged member of the “Pink Panther” gang of thieves, died a few years ago due to a serious illness. Her life confession still attracts the attention of the public, as she replaced luxury and splendor with a prison cell.
Namely, in her confession, she told how she ended up as part of a gang that ravages the world. As she once said, she accepted the invitation of a friend she has known since childhood, whom she trusted immensely, and went to Athens, where she lived like a person in paradise, like the richest people in the world, for almost two months.
Slavica, in her confession, revealed a frighteningly thin line, from the world of luxury, to the hell of Greek prisons… Expensive jewelry, unique dresses, exclusive hotels in exotic locations, living the high life. All of these are parts of the puzzle that girls imagine when they embark on an adventure with men who, seemingly, offer them everything. What they, however, do not want to see, is the origin of the money. And it is precisely that piece of the puzzle that often makes the difference between heaven and hell.
-We lived in Glyfada. The elite lives there, the Greek elite, and I enjoyed it there, I had money that he gave me. I didn’t know where the money came from, but I wasn’t interested either. I assumed, but at that moment I wasn’t interested. The fun was that we went to renowned restaurants, that we were respected, because he had money. People didn’t know him, but just because he had money, we had the privilege of going to restaurants and feeling like we were in Hollywood. It’s a little funny, but that’s how it was. I didn’t look at all that so darkly: he was a man I trusted, with whom I grew up and I believed that I would be protected at all times – Slavica said then.
The police rotations appeared after a month and a half, and they were arrested for an attempted escape. As she said earlier, hell began for her then. She had not seen her childhood friend for ten years, she lived in Montenegro, and he was in prison.
-I knew what he was doing and I knew that I could be in danger. At first I thought that nothing would happen to me. I didn’t commit any crime. However, they pulled me out of the car and started beating me. My friend tried to run away, but the police shot at him. I soon realized that I would not be getting out of custody so quickly. It was much worse than I thought, I could never have dreamed that this could happen to me – Slavica used to say.
-I didn’t believe it was real, I thought I was in a movie, I wasn’t even aware of the situation, I thought it wasn’t happening to me, it’s simply impossible. I was lost at the moment. I didn’t even get to realize what had happened to me. The policewoman slapped me, then hit me again, and again, shouting something in Greek at her. In the car while we were sitting, before we went to the police station, a woman, a police officer, an inspector, opened the door, slapped me, beat me, said some things that I didn’t understand – Slavica said in her confession.
Then she went through abuse, they constantly beat her… They talk to her, she won’t talk, they hit her, she falls, they lift her up, they shout at her, they hit her again, they drag her on the floor, they kick her, they pull her hair, etc. She was handcuffed behind her back the whole time.
-At one point, the guy who was with us was with me in the room, so they took turns abusing us, they beat him first, then me, him, then me. I didn’t cry, he whimpered, which was absurd for a man who was I don’t know how old and had a criminal past behind him, to cry. He said I should cry so they wouldn’t touch me. They forced me to sit and look at one point, and if I looked away, I got a blow to the head, and those were not harmless blows at all. Afterwards, I was in the hospital, I couldn’t get up for two days – said Slavica. They abused her for days, took her from office to office, let her think, but she was silent…
-They said they would help me if I cooperated, that I was facing 20 years in prison, but my spirit did not allow it, my home upbringing did not allow it. I didn’t eat anything for 18 hours, I drank as much water as they allowed me because my hands were tied the whole time. At my request, they gave me water from a bottle as much as they considered sufficient for me. At that moment, everything goes through my head, I think of my parents who will not forgive me, I was 34 years old then, I was not young at all, so carried away by something, I should have thought healthily that I shouldn’t get into something like that. Then I hate the man for putting me in such a situation, and then I tell myself he didn’t put me in that situation, I’m confused. Then I tell myself it’s not his fault, I came myself, I didn’t know what to think, what to do, I told myself, this will pass, everything is temporary. I stuck to being silent, and thereby irritated the inspectors who were there. They couldn’t believe that a woman could endure that. I didn’t cry, I’m very proud and that’s worse for me – said Slavica.
Then she finally saw the seriousness of the situation.
-I thought they wouldn’t arrest him, that they would let me go, but when I saw that they had arrested him, I didn’t feel quite comfortable. He was bloody, scratched, torn, bruised, disheveled, scared… He was running away, who knows where he was hiding and that’s how he should look – she used to say.
When Slavica was brought into the interrogation room, he (the man she lived with) was already there. They ask her if she knows him, she says yes. They ask him, he says yes. They look at each other briefly at what they’ve gotten themselves into. She was in disbelief, they took her out of the room.
-They asked me to admit that I participated and to say what he was doing. I didn’t want to cooperate, I knew what he was doing, but I defended myself with silence. He had serious crimes, terrible crimes – says Slavica.
Her friend was involved in theft. He broke into stores, jewelry stores, and branded clothing stores. He did it all over Europe, and in Greece specifically he worked in jewelry stores. The thefts are done by attaching a cable to a grille and to a car, then the grille is pulled out, the shop window is smashed, and then they run away with the goods, most often on stolen motorcycles, the cars are stolen, no trace is left. It all happens in a few minutes, it’s elaborate, rehearsed, planned…
Slavica was placed in prison with female criminals and prostitutes. A lawyer openly offered her that if she gave him 50,000 euros, she could go home immediately. However, she did not have that money, nor a guarantee that it would happen if she brought the money.
-A lawyer came to me for the first time after two days. I asked him to take a picture of me, I wanted to sue the police station, I had bruises on my body and I was swollen, I couldn’t get up. The lawyer told me not to do that, that there was nothing to be gained from it, he said that I was in a difficult situation. He told me that I was a member of the Pink Partner group and that I would be tried for robberies, organized crime, I didn’t even hear anything else. That’s the first time I hear it, I feel very bad then, I start to faint, I ask for a glass of water, which of course they didn’t give me, neither water nor anything else – said Slavica.
-Every female prisoner was involved in something, they talk the moment they open the door. When she entered, they all looked in my direction and there was silence. A quiet murmur starts “pink panther, pink panther, pink panther”, they are all fascinated, delighted, they look at Slavica as if she were a rare species.
-Everyone got used to it, it was strange to me, everyone has their own story, that they are not guilty. Everyone greets me by already knowing what I’m accused of because I was on TV. When I entered, everyone came up to me. They looked at me and said Pink Panther. Everyone was fascinated. They let me choose a bed, a good mattress. They saw me as a Pink Panther and they had respect for me. I took advantage of that, I kept quiet wisely, I had the privilege of choosing a bed, those are beds that you can’t sleep on. Those are grilles, metal beds with grilles that you can’t sleep on, you have to put cardboard. I could choose whether I wanted to go up or down, they gave me a good mattress. They immediately gave me coffee, asked if I wanted to take a bath – she recounts and adds that the first person to approach her was an Albanian woman, who helped her and offered her everything she needed.
Men have all the privileges, phones, but women don’t.
-One of them told me that Olivera Ćirković was arrested and when she came to that prison, he told me to be careful of her, that she was very dangerous. I believed him. I didn’t know her. Olivera is brought by female guards (I realized she played basketball and that she was tall, I don’t know what she looks like). She approached me. I addressed her in Greek, but the accent sounded like hers.
OLIVERA: Are you one of us?
SLAVICA: Yes.
OLIVERA: Well, speak Serbian, what are you mumbling.
-I had already gotten a job, in the warehouse to give first aid in the form of shampoo, toilet paper, a toothbrush. They called me forward, I saw Olivera, I asked her if she was from Serbia, she just looked at me uninterested. When I brought her that first aid, I told her I was Slavica.
“SPEAK SERBIAN, WHAT ARE YOU MUMBLING”: Slavica met Olivera Ćirković in a Greek prison
-I went to the guard and asked if she could be in the room with me. When you come to prison, it’s very important that you know someone to give you something, because they give you bedding that is dirty, blankets that stink, I asked her to be with me, they accepted. She then asked me what I was looking for with that friend of mine, I asked why, she said he was a snitch, he set us all up. I said that’s impossible, I know that man. She says you’re not normal, you know what kind of sentence you’re facing. She says I know you have nothing to do with it but you are not aware of what a serious situation you are in. That’s when I first worried about myself – Slavica was terrified.
-I said I didn’t believe it, then she said that a lawyer would bring her papers, you will ask the Albanian woman to translate it into English for you. That’s what happened, I talked to her lawyer, I read that he said that he worked for Olivera’s boyfriend, that he worked with her. I understood the seriousness of the situation, I knew that I was facing many years, even though they have no evidence because in Greece you are not tried on evidence. He mentioned me “she has nothing to do with it”. He fought for himself, he reduced his years, but in the end it turned out that his sentence was reduced by 6 years for cooperating with the police, and they added them to mine for not cooperating with the police – she once explained.
-In the beginning, I was very reserved towards her because he said she was dangerous, that she was like this and that, that I should be careful, but then over time, I saw that we spent a lot of time together, we were very close to each other, the only two Serbian women in a Greek prison. I saw that she was a sincere and good person, she helped me a lot – the interviewee revealed.
Slavica escaped from prison after a few months, although she did not want to. After 18 months, she was brought to court. They offered her to pay 50,000 euros and get out immediately, but she did not have the money, so she served another six months, a total of two years.
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Source: Kurir Photo: Privatna arhiva