I hope Cranes coach Micho carries the  victim of his mischief in his thoughts

Author, Mr Moses Banturaki. PHOTO/FILE.

What you need to know:

  • It is evident in every conversation he holds that he is a man who dedicates a lot of time to understand his craft and not one who would therefore find the time to go around ‘touch-touching’ people or passing out lewd comments.

I have met Micho Sredojevic a couple of times, the latest being a month ago in Nairobi. There is a lot to admire in the man. 

It is evident in every conversation he holds that he is a man who dedicates a lot of time to understand his craft and not one who would therefore find the time to go around ‘touch-touching’ people or passing out lewd comments.

I was therefore shocked to learn earlier this week that the reason he travelled down south was not to empty his locker but to attend to a matter concerning sexual assault.

Now if I can help it, I don’t really like passing judgement quickly. But neither am I going to brush off the matter as some lighthearted naughty moment being blown out of proportion by an opportunistic victim like some people already have. 

I think that would not only be unfair but would be to also mix up sexual harassment and sexual assault. The former, though also thoughtless and humiliating, is not a crime in many jurisdictions. The latter however is a serious crime and one for which Micho has been convicted.

Anyway, he has been sentenced to three years imprisonment which can sound alarming until you learn that is suspended for five years which then makes it appear like he is a very lucky man.

Those who know these things say it isn’t uncommon for first time offenders to get such seemingly light sentences and that it means over the next five years, if Micho intends to stay out of jail, he can’t go around placing his long fingers on people who don’t ask for this kind of attention.

Now because the victims are almost always female and the perpetrators male, gender-sensitive folk think people like Micho get off lightly. They will point at suffering that happens at two levels. One, the unwarranted attention which is clearly sickening. 

Two, the humiliation of trivialising the whole matter. They will ask how Micho just gets on with his job and where the fairness in all that is. And I can’t really blame them. One doesn’t need to be a PhD in psychology to appreciate that people who have been sexually assaulted suffer both mentally and physically. 

That stuff leaves people scarred for life. And to that extent the sentence like the one Micho gets feels like a slap on the wrist. It feels like the punishment is not equal to the crime.

Yet Fufa, Micho Sredojevic’s employers, say they are satisfied with how the matter has been dealt with and welcomed Micho back to the job of taking us as far as we can go in the World Cup qualifiers. Not a mention of the victim was made. No acknowledgement of guilt or expression of regret. It is like she was never there. Like it never happened.  

But let us not dwell on that. What is done is done. I guess the best way for Micho Sredojevic to atone for his ways would be to always dish out the kind of respect he expects from others. What he did was plain disrespectful, and I hope he carries enough remorse to change his behaviour and enough gratitude to appreciate that he still has a job. 

People have lost theirs for much less. And for all it matters I hope he always holds in his thoughts the lady who never asked to be touched but for who the embarrassment of the unending ridicule of a male-dominated football public that carries sexual undertones in every suggestive discussion about her case, will linger long after her memory of the incident fades. 

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MBanturaki