He was cruel, told us about erogenous zones, made us touch each other: Milena's testimony continues

We watched him take the girls to that side room, where they would stay for a while. I wondered when he would choose me as talented and take me to the room. And then it happened...

This is what one of the five girls who reported Miroslav Mika Aleksic (68), a well known Belgrade acting coach, for rape or sexual harassment, told the police.

As Blic has learned, the girls testified about the experience that they claim had in Mika Aleksic's school. Each of them told their own unique story, but they pointed out to an identical pattern, which, as they say, Aleksic has been perfecting for decades.

"'Every woman must have a secret. If she doesn't have a secret, she's not a woman,' he told us. Only much later did we realize that it was his game, preparing the ground for the horrors that followed," the girls told the police.

The police and the prosecution will compare the statements of all five girls in order to establish the scheme of functioning of Mika Aleksic's acting school. In the past, for example, it did not seem suspicious that Mika Aleksic did not want to have any contact with the students' parents. Now that looks different. And many with a name in the acting world today went to Mika's acting school. Generations of children followed his rules!

The rules were strict, almost cruel, as the renowned young actress Milena Radulovic told Blic. (Radulovic previously accused Aleksic of repeatedly raping her starting when she was 17 years old). Only those who adhered to them could remain in Mika's group.

The rules

The first rule, says Milena Radulovic, was "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Secondly, "I'm not angry that you are lying to me, but that you think I believe you." When someone lied to him, they would be given the task to write that broken rule 1,500 or 2,000 times in a notebook.

The third rule was "there is no self-management in the group, only Mika manages", the fourth, "there is no falling in love in the group, because that spoils friendship," and the fifth, "only OFK Beograd (football club) is supported in the group." The sixth rule concerned being late. "Nobody shat their his pants because their toilet is far away, but because they went too late," Aleksic would say, according to Milena Radulovic.

She understood the punishment, she says, when she was guilty and accepted it. However, she felt uncomfortable when, as she claims, he pilloried the students just because they had an opinion that did not match his.

"He was cruel when you say something that he doesn't like. You would be the target that day. It was much harsher with Miroslav Aleksic than at any training or class I have ever been to," says Milena Radulovic.

Perhaps the most unusual thing was Aleksic's "annulment" of sorts of parents and their role in the lives of the children who attended his classes.

"The parents were not allowed to be present, nor did Mika communicate with them. Whether based on where they are from, or because of their occupation, there was always something he would use to humiliate parents while talking to their children. It would happen that some people were bothered by that, so they left the group. Mika said they were lazy and weak," says Milena Radulovic.

Authority

According to her, Aleksic would constantly say, "I never invited anyone here! I don't need you, son, you need me!". The children would then become attached to their friends, they would go on trips and to fairs together, so leaving the group would become difficult for them.

Aleksic also talked about sex in class.

"The topic of sex and erogenous zones, exercises where students get close and touch each other... The story of sexuality was present when we were 13-14 years old. He asked us these things in public, and in private he asked us if we had sex, if we liked it and said that sex is important for health. At that time, it seemed to us that it was pedagogical. He asked everybody, so we didn't think it was something unnatural," says Milena Radulovic.

Mika's authority among the children grew, and the students were afraid of him, according to the girls who reported him to the police. They claim that he threatened them "in some veiled form."

"Through a conversation he would stress that if you ever speak, he is who he is and no one will believe you, and that he does not recommend it to us in a friendly way," says Milena Radulovic.

Two more girls testified: He asked me to get up and turn around...

After Milena Radulovic and four other girls, two more gave their statements to the police yesterday. One of them is Sara Zeljkovic, who was a student in Aleksic's school, and who told the police about the abuse in her case. With her was another girl who wished to remain anonymous.

"It is very important to point out that my statement was voluntarily given publicly and that the media took over the statement from my (social) networks and published it. If you give a statement to the police, you can be sure that it will remain anonymous if you wish. I want to invite all the girls who have any experience of sexual abuse by Aleksic to contact me and I will connect them with the great people from the police who are working on this case. It's important to point this out, so as not to accidentally call into question the procedures of the police, which are very professional, meticulous, and who guarantee anonymity. I am just coming from the police, where I officially gave a statement with another girl whose story will remain anonymous," Zeljkovic wrote.

In the first post published immediately after the testimony of Milena Radulovic, Sara presented the details of her unpleasant experiences while attending the acting school run by Aleksic.

"When I turned 16, 17, Mika invited me to the office for a conversation. I don't remember exactly how he communicated that. All in all, he started questioning me about sex. I remember very well the questions, as well as what I was wearing that day, which I later heard happens when there is some traumatic moment in your life. The questions were, 'Are you f**king?' I was confused, but since it was taken for granted in my life to answer every of Mika's questions, I shyly answered 'yes', to which he laughed and said, "Yes, yes, but do you like to f**k?' I was still confused, but he just kept asking. 'And where do you like to f**k the most?' I still had some stupid look on my face, so he answered that question instead of me, 'Wherever you can, huh? 'After that he stopped questioning me and the only situation I remember next was that he asked me to I get up and turn around, which I obediently did, for him to then pat/shake my ass and say: 'It's a little of a bucket, but it can pass'," t- his is just a part of another girl's testimony.

Questioning today, he faces up to 15 years in prison

Miroslav Aleksic will be questioned today at the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade.

A criminal complaint will be also filed with the Office by the police, which, as we have learned, will charge him with the crime of rape. Aleksic is not under obligation to make a statement. He can also defend himself by remaining silent, if he so wishes.

The Criminal Code threatens a sentence of five to 15 years in prison for the crime of rape and sexual harassment of a minor victim. The law distinguishes between a minor and a child, who is considered a person under 14 years of age.

Police are urging victims to come forward

Members of the Ministry of the Interior in Belgrade arrested Miroslav Miko Aleksic (68) due to a well-founded suspicion that he had committed criminal acts of rape and illegal sexual acts, the Ministry of the Interior announced.

"It is suspected that in the period from 2012 to 2020, he sexually assaulted five of his students in the premises of the acting school in Belgrade that he owns, two of whom were underaged at the time of the crime," the statement reads.

The suspect Aleksic has been detained and he will brought to the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, along with a criminal complaint.

"Since it is suspected that there are other persons who were sexually assaulted by the suspect, they can report it in the premises of the Police Administration for the city of Belgrade, in 107 Despota Stefana Boulevard," the police stated.

(Telegraf.rs)