Month: December 2024

Since Serbian law does not recognise image-based sexual abuse as a specific crime, cases in the country have been tried on various counts in the criminal code, most commonly sexual harassment, child pornography and the unauthorised publication of another person’s images.

Lawyers and activists say this is not ideal; earlier this year, more than 20,000 people signed a petition calling for image-based sexual abuse to be recognised within the criminal code.

Given that the Belgrade-based Autonomous Women’s Centre, AZC, says it receives on average one call a week from a woman seeking advice after being subjected to image-based sexual abuse, activists say the 15 cases are a drop in the ocean, but some would call it a significant drop, nonetheless.

Vanja Macanovic, a lawyer with the AZC, which provides legal and psychological support to women who have survived violence, says the fact that survivors are going to court and winning is as a step in the right direction, one that may encourage more women to follow suit.

Belgrade Higher Court, where some of the cases were tried. Photo: BIRN.

“It is very important that these cases exist and that our prosecution and courts recognise the issue and prosecute the cases based on the crimes they could,” said Vanja Macanovic, a lawyer with the AZC, which provides legal and psychological support to women who have survived violence.

“It is a great step forward that shows that the problem exists, and a court practice is being established.”

The punishment meted out to the perpetrators, however, frequently errs on the side of leniency.

Survivors often under 18s

To ascertain how many cases of image-based sexual abuse are reaching court, BIRN sent freedom of information requests to 93 basic and higher courts in the country asking for rulings delivered in cases of criminal complaints based on six counts of the Serbian criminal code.

Seventy-nine responded. Among the more than 100 rulings BIRN obtained and analysed, these reporters identified 15 that matched the criteria of image-based sexual abuse and would likely be tried as such if such a crime existed in the criminal code.

BIRN asked for court decisions delivered in cases of criminal complaints based on six counts of the criminal code: Unauthorised Wiretapping and Recording (Article 143), Unauthorised Photographing (Article 144), Unauthorised Publication and Presentation of another’s Texts, Portraits and Recordings (Article 145), Unauthorised Collection of Personal Data (146), Sexual Harassment (Article 182a) and Showing, Procuring and Possessing Pornographic Material and Minor Person Pornography (Article 185).

In one third of the cases, the survivors were minors [under the age of 18]. Of the perpetrators, one was under the age of 18.

Most cases were prosecuted as sexual harassment, child pornography or unauthorised publication of some else’s picture, sometimes along with insult, stalking or coercion.

In ten cases, the verdicts clearly stated that the perpetrator was a former partner, boyfriend or husband. In most cases, the survivors knew exactly who the perpetrator was.

Most of the offences used to prosecute image-based sexual abuse are not criminal offences that are usually prosecuted ex officio, unless the survivor is a minor.

This means that survivors must file a criminal complaint themselves and then the prosecution decides whether to file charges. If they drop the case, survivors can complain and, ultimately, pursue a private lawsuit with little prospect of winning.

A private lawsuit requires the survivor to conduct the investigation themselves, said lawyer Gordana Dobrosavljevic.

“But we do not have all the investigative means at our disposal that the courts and prosecution and police have,” she told BIRN. “We would also need to prepare the witnesses… It would be basically impossible to win.”

Dobrosavljevic is currently pursuing a case on behalf of a client who filed a criminal complaint after an explicit video of her was shared online by an unknown person.

“It is very hard here to prosecute these offences in Serbia. The prosecutors are still not used to dealing with these types of cases,” Dobrosavljevic told BIRN.

Depending on the criminal offence and the type of technology used to commit the offence, image-based sexual abuse can be prosecuted by basic public prosecutors or by prosecutors of the Special Prosecution Office for High-Tech Crime, VTK.

Dobrosavljevic first filed the complaint with the basic prosecution, but it was dismissed because she could not name the alleged perpetrator. After she appealed, the case was sent to the VTK prosecutors.

Dobrosavljevic said she wanted the case to reach the VTK prosecutors, “as they are better equipped to deal with these offences”.

“We had many issues,” she said. “The case was initially dismissed as we did not name the perpetrator. But how could we know the name? We only had a video.”

The case is ongoing before the Higher Court in Belgrade.

Lawyer Nina Nicovic said police and prosecutors, even those at VTK, lack the means to properly investigate such cases.

“I think VTK and the police lack the staff and technological tools to act quickly,” Nicovic told BIRN. “This goes especially for complicated cases, where they need to find the original perpetrator – the one who shared the image or a video first.”

Intimidated into restricting online presence

Survivors of image-based violence face an uphill fight for justice in which they often have to face down intimidation and the threat of more abuse.

In one case in a town in southwestern Serbia in 2017, a young woman went to the police to report her ex-boyfriend after he posted an intimate photo of her on Instagram. The ex-boyfriend found out and the next day he sent her a message: “You have until Monday to withdraw the complaint,” he wrote. “Keep this message as proof that I’m threatening you.”

A prosecutor filed charges, but the trial was delayed for nearly a year and the case eventually dropped after the survivor gave up.

For others, a lack of trust in the authorities left them suffering in silence.

This summer, Sofija Bogosavljevic, a journalist from a town near Belgrade, received a message on Instagram from an unknown account, containing a photo of her on the beach that had manipulated by AI to remove her swimwear – a form of digital violence known as ‘deepfake pornography’.

“I understood it as a message – ‘Look what I have and what I can do with it’,” she said.

Sofija consulted several lawyers but summed up their responses as: “‘What can you do? It’s not a criminal offence, unless it continues. Then it could be considered stalking’.”

The harassment stopped, but Bogosavljevic was left scarred. She has since removed all holiday photos from her social media profiles, feeling forced to restrict her own online presence because of potential predators.

“I basically have to limit myself now because I know what kind of sick people are out there.”

Sentences ‘lenient’

Out of the 15 cases BIRN identified, the courts delivered guilty verdicts in 14. Only three, however, saw the perpetrator put behind bars, given that image-based sexual abuse is usually prosecuted as harassment or the unauthorised publication of images.

The majority of convictions resulted in fines ranging from the equivalent of 170 euros to 1,500 euros. In four cases, the perpetrators were given suspended prison sentences of three to eight months. Two were sentenced to house arrest – 30 days and six months respectively.

In one case, the perpetrator was a minor and a parental supervision order was issued.

Three of the 18 were referred to the Special Prosecution Office for High-Tech Crime while in one case the prosecution dropped the charges.

Following the criminal case, the survivors can seek compensation in litigation. These processes can last for years.

Nicovic said the punishment rarely reflects the long term harm caused to survivors.

“The victims suffer consequences continuously,” she told BIRN. “They never know when these images might resurface.”

“The processes should be quicker, and the victims should be compensated within the criminal case, as the law allows.”

Serbia’s justice ministry has initiated changes to the criminal code but failed to include image-based sexual abuse in the first draft. After the draft was submitted for public consultation in October, the ministry said the offence would indeed be included.

It remains unclear when the draft will be finished and submitted to parliament for adoption.

An SPO opinion published on October 28 defined Atlatszo as “a member of the foreign influence network maintained by the United States of America”. It dismissed the media outlet’s goal of uncovering corruption as “a highly effective weapon of US economic and political interests”.

Atlatszo has said it will take legal action against the SPO, arguing that it has no authority to investigate the outlet. It further stated that it did not receive a draft of the opinion to allow it to make comments, claiming it contained a “large number of gross factual errors and omissions”.

What is the SPO and why does it matter?

In December 2023, the Hungarian parliament passed a new law on the ‘defence of sovereignty’ that created the SPO, whose official aim is to investigate any alleged foreign interference in the country.

The SPO is tasked with investigating alleged information manipulation and disinformation and activities aimed at influencing democratic discourse and decision-making processes. It is also tasked with probing organisations that receive support from abroad and may exert influence on the outcome of elections.

The authority publishes the results of its investigations with no possibility to appeal or challenge their outcome in a formal forum – although its opinions are not legally binding.

The European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Hungary because in its view, the ‘defence of sovereignty’ law violates EU legislation.

The SPO’s investigations into  Atlatszó and Transparency International Hungary were the first of its probes. Both declined to cooperate, claiming that they were targeted because of their anti-corruption work.

In its latest investigation, the SPO in September began probing the environmental group God-ERT Association, requesting financial data. The association’s work has led to the Samsung battery factory in Hungary being fined 55 times.

Turkey moves to adopt Russian-style law

Following similar developments in Georgia and the Bosnian entity Republika Srpska, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP has made another attempt to adopt a Russian-style ‘foreign agents law’.

The first attempt was in May 2024, when the AKP proposed a law threatening prison sentences for people allegedly involved in producing propaganda for a foreign actor. It was seen by observers as a further blow to the freedom of the country’s embattled media, as well as to civil society in general.

Following criticism, the bill was withdrawn, but then resubmitted to parliament on October 18. It is expected to come before parliament any day, with likely approval by the AKP and its parliamentary allies.

The proposed law introduces two new crimes: one concerns contraventions of the security or political interests of the state; the other with violations of the security or internal or external political interests of the state in line with the strategic interests or instructions of a foreign state or organisation. Both carry prison sentences of three to seven years.

Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc stated that the proposed law aims to combat espionage, and would not be used broadly to punish anyone conducting research in Turkey. However, numerous local and international rights groups have criticised it as an assault on freedom of expression and media.

“Turkey’s parliament must reject the draft amendment to the country’s espionage laws which, if passed, would significantly threaten the ability of civil society organisations to operate freely within the country,” said a statement signed by more than 80 organisations ahead of the expected vote in parliament.

Monitoring: Hungary was covered by Akos Keller-Alant, Turkey by Hamdi Firat Buyuk, Romania by Adina Florea, Albania by Nensi Bogdani, Montenegro by Djurdja Radulovic, Kosovo by Flaka Fazlija, Serbia by Tijana Uzelac, North Macedonia by Bojan Stojkovski and Goce Trpkovski, Bosnia and Herzegovina by Elma Selimovic, Croatia by Katarina Gulan.

It has since told BIRN that the goal of the collaboration is to provide training in five areas of journalism – digital journalism, multimedia production, marketing and social media, media law and ethics, and data analysis. War reporting is also part of the project.

“The idea of opening this type of school was proposed by the Rybar media organisation during a presentation of its capacities and possible models of cooperation,” the agency said.

It compared the project to those involving EU support for local media in Bosnia and elsewhere in the Balkans. Zvinchuk, however, has been under EU sanctions since 2023 for allegedly spreading “disinformation and pro-Russian propaganda”.

He also sits on a working group set up by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December 2022 to coordinate Russia’s mobilisation efforts in support of the war in Ukraine.

“Any cooperation between him, his associates and the Republika Srpska authorities would not only be unacceptable, but a clear violation of the existing EU sanctions to which Bosnia and Herzegovina has also committed,” Petar Stano, an EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security, told BIRN.

The United States also has Rybar and Zvinchuk in its sights. The US State Department last month offered a $10 million reward for intelligence on Rybar over allegations that it was involved in interference in the American presidential elections intended to “sow discord, promote social division, stoke partisan and racial discord, and encourage hate and violence”.

Ryber, which is reported to have more than 1.3 million followers on Telegram, tried to “bolster Russia’s military capabilities and advance pro-Russian and anti-Western narratives”, said a statement on the State Department’s Rewards for Justice website. Zvinchuk was one of nine named individuals about whom the US is seeking information.

‘Rybar is dangerous’

In an automated response to a BIRN application to attend the media school in Republika Srpska, Rybar said that “the school in the Balkans will open soon”. It specified that recruitment was underway for online Serbian-language training.

Rybar says it plans to hold regular master classes addressed by authors of Russian Telegram channels.

“Our goal is to show that one can do without Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram,” the channel said in April. “Russia’s experience in information warfare can and should be taken into account. Telegram is a platform that enables this for you.”

“We have long studied the approaches of the West in waging information warfare against us. The time has come to apply our knowledge and train our associates in the right approaches and attract them to Telegram.”

During his visit to the Balkans earlier this year, Zvinchuk also held a number of lectures in Belgrade.

Analyst and digital forensics expert Natasa Kilibarda said Rybar claimed at the time that among those who attended the lectures were journalists, PR professionals and civil servants, “which in itself is extremely problematic”.

Kilibarda cited “suspicions” that Rybar – with 1.3 million followers – is funded by the Kremlin.

“Traces are visible in terms of not only the narrative but also the approach and provision of information,” she told BIRN.

Olena Churanova, a Kyiv-based journalist for StopFake, which tracks disinformation, stressed that Zvinchuk is a former Russian army officer and speculated that Rybar is fed information from the Russian Defence Ministry.

“Rybar is dangerous because it looks like a reliable source of information about the Russian side on the Ukrainian battlefield,” Churanova said.

According to the Republika Srpska’s public broadcaster, Zvinchuk was first brought to Bosnia by the Centre for Socio-Political Research, which was founded by the Republika Srpska government.

The centre’s director, Dusan Pavlovic, declined to discuss the details of Zvinchuk’s visit.

“The media outlet for which you work is compromised in a professional sense because it has been made public that you cooperate with foreign structures whose agendas are not well-intentioned for building and preserving coexistence and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Pavlovic told BIRN.

Rybar did not respond to a request for comment.

Some countries also release information on cultural resources, economic indicators and business registration details.

But people across the region are still struggling with the quality and limited availability of data on official portals, BIRN’s online survey of people’s experiences with open data sites found.

The survey sought to find out more about people’s experiences with open data in the six Western Balkans countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – and to discover what the main challenges are and how the data is being used.

The responses indicated that although users view efforts to publish data as an important step toward transparent, digitalised governance, Western Balkan states still lag behind EU countries in publishing data fully, diligently and promptly.

According to BIRN’s survey:

• Most respondents say they use open data for both personal and professional purposes
• Journalists and researchers are among the most frequent users
• Datasets containing information on government, the economy, health, the environment and transport are accessed most often
• Limited information, poor data quality and technical issues with the portals are seen as the biggest drawbacks

Laws better on paper?

North Macedonia adopted its first Law on the Use of Public Sector Data in 2014. Serbia followed with a Law on Electronic Administration in 2018. Albania adopted a similar law in 2023.

These national laws said data should be published as raw data in a computer-processable format; it should be published together with its metadata, down to the lowest level of detail; and there should be regular updates. The laws also contain provisions on re-use of data, which is one of the most important prerequisites for open data.

However, as a separate recent piece of BIRN research showed, these laws on open data and digitalisation often look better on paper than in practice.

“Open data policies are adequate but their implementation needs more work. A lot has been done, but much more can still be achieved,” Stevan Gostojic, assistant professor of applied computer science and informatics at the Faculty of Technical Sciences at Novi Sad University in Serbia, told BIRN.

Most countries entrust governance of open data to specialised bodies. They have either expanded the mandate of commissioners for access to public information or created new entities, such as Serbia’s Office for IT and e-Government.

But although open data portals were envisioned as platforms for publishing datasets held by state bodies and allowing community interaction, BIRN’s research found that many people feel discouraged from using the datasets, or find the portals too technical, or the information out-of-date.

Critics claim that governments are conducting a tick-box exercise on the path to EU membership, seeking to show that they are embracing the Europe-wide drive for information transparency outlined in the bloc’s Open Data Directive.

Answers given (percentage of total) to BIRN’s question about the main challenges people face when using official open data portals in each country surveyed.

Up to date – or out of date?

Most respondents to BIRN’s online survey said they access official data through government portals or websites, as well as third-party applications.

They emphasised that much of the information they seek remains less accessible, or completely inaccessible, such as the Beneficial Owners registry in Montenegro, the catalogue of datasets of the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption in North Macedonia, and the registry of geological research permits in Serbia.

One journalist from Serbia noted: “Decisions from government sessions are only partially published and the government does not respond to requests for access to information of public importance, so that data is very difficult to obtain.”

A student from Serbia said the country’s open data portal lacks data from the district and municipal level; most data is at the national level. Asked whether the data is published in a timely manner, most respondents said “no”, or they were uncertain.

Datasets on official portals must be regularly updated to remain useful. In Albania and Kosovo, journalists say that out-of-date information has hampered the search for the environmental information they need to assess the efficacy and impact of eco-friendly policies.

“It’s important to keep in mind that data opening is not a one-time activity but a process that needs to be continuously implemented and monitored,” said Stevan Gostojic.

“For this reason, it is necessary through job role systematization to clearly define who is responsible for carrying out data-opening activities, and allocate appropriate budget funds for this purpose.”

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, while several institutions, such as the Statistical Office, publish open data, the country lacks a centralised portal.

The country’s Federation entity adopted an entity-level law on free access to information in August 2023. BIRN asked the Federation government when the site will open, but received no response by time of publication. Bosnia’s other entity, Republika Srpska, also has no open data site.

The Federation’s adoption of the law on free access to information also drew criticism from a group of 20 civil society organisations that said it contained too many exceptions.

“The proposal that has been adopted will significantly limit access to information of public interest, given that it contains a long list of exceptions or possible restrictions on access to information,” the organisations said in a joint statement.

Unlike Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia all have operational open data portals.

However, BIRN found that the North Macedonia site’s backup address, otvorenipodatoci.gov.mk, was not functioning. North Macedonia’s institutions seemed not to know about the problem until BIRN asked them abhttps://data.gov.mk/en/out it.

The Ministry of Digital Transformations then told BIRN that the problem would be resolved fast. “The website Otvoreni Podatoci is supposed to redirect to a primary web address of our open data portal. However, it seems that there is a technical problem that will be solved today,” the ministry stated on October 22.

By the time of publication, the issue had not been rectified, however.

Publication of basic information has been a legal obligation in North Macedonia since 2019. Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Public Information say institutions must publish contracts, regulations, programmes, strategies, public procurements, tenders, costs, decisions, acts and more.

However, some institutions still publish only about 20 per cent of the information they should. Asked if the government plans to do to change that, the Ministry of Digital Transformation said it plans a further law on open data and re-use of public sector data.

“The aim of the law is to harmonise the national legal framework with the EU directive [on open data]. The law will also define the relevant authorities for the proper implementation of the law and adequate corrective measures. This will be followed by a feasibility study for using the platform to automatically update relevant and high-value data on the portal,” the ministry said.

Montenegro launched its open data portal in August 2018 which was integrated with the European open data portal in 2020.

However, in August 2022 Montenegrin government servers suffered an unprecedented series of ransomware attacks that disabled access to government websites and email systems, affecting various institutions, including courts, the cadastral office and the Revenue and Customs Administration​​.

Montenegro’s open data portal is still experiencing bugs and does not work properly. But the Ministry of Public Administration assured BIRN that no data had been lost because it had copies. “The site has been improved compared to the state it was in before the cyberattack,” added Lidija Ljumovic, from the Ministry of Public Administration.

But Dejan Milovac, director of research at MANS – Mreza za Affirmaciju Nevladinog Sektora – an anti-corruption NGO, said the government had so far only published part of the data that should be made public on its open data portal.

“The criteria by which individual state institutions publish their information on this portal are not entirely clear. In most areas that are covered by open data, only part of the data has been published. In some areas, not a single set of data has been published,” Milovac said.

“The use of the Law on Free Access to Information is still the dominant starting point for investigating corruption and other forms of legal violations, or simply monitoring the work of government bodies,” Milovac said.

But he added that the quality of data on offer often isn’t high enough for journalists or civil society organisations to use as a main resource for investigating wrongdoing.

He also said the register of owners of companies and properties should be improved, given Montenegro’s long history as a destination for shady money from offshore destinations.

Serbia’s e-government and open data strategies are closely aligned with EU electronic administration principles.

However, BIRN’s analysis of the data sets that Serbian cities and municipalities publish on the country’s Open Data Portal revealed that few of them publish new datasets promptly, or update existing ones.

The content and volume of published datasets also vary significantly between local municipalities. The analysis showed that while 56 cities and municipalities in Serbia out of 174 have published at least one dataset, two-thirds of local government units have not published anything.

Computer science and informatics expert Gostojic said “significant progress has been made in recent years in opening up data” in Serbia.

However, he added, “the justice system lags behind other sectors when it comes to data openness. According to the Open Data Portal, only statistical data and certain registries (such as public notaries, public executors, court experts, etc.) are available. Unfortunately, data on cases in a disaggregated form (court registers, court decisions, other documents, etc.) are not accessible,” he said.

Gostojic also noted that institutions face various challenges in publishing open datasets. “First, opening data requires financial resources that are typically not included in an institution’s budget. These financial resources may not be insignificant, especially if there is a need to anonymise personal data or redact classified information,” he pointed out.

“Second, some government bodies lack the personnel to carry out these activities, which is particularly true for local government bodies. Third, government bodies usually gain no immediate benefit from opening data (except possibly a reduction in requests for access to public information) and so lack a direct incentive to open their data,” he continued.

Finally, he pointed out, “opening data sets enhances the transparency of government operations, which may not always align with the personal interests of managers and employees”.

Based on referral only, both apps had promised huge earnings for anyone prepared to invest at least 50 euros in cryptocurrency and perform simple daily tasks such as watching a video or clicking a button to start the app. The more people a user invited to join, the more money they stood to earn. Until it all collapsed.

Photos of smiling Macedonians holding phones lit up with the DGPT logo have disappeared from social media, as have posts by individuals promoting the apps.

A webinar in North Macedonia promoting DGPT actrivities. Photo: BIRN

Among the pyramid scheme’s most vocal promoters was Aleko Shemko, who until May was executive director of the right-wing Macedonian Concept, a political party not represented in parliament.

Shemko did not respond to a request for comment. The party said it had not been in contact with him for a year. DGPT asked its users for patience and promised they would be paid back.

“I regret investing; I thought it would last through the month and I would get my money back,” said a 39-year-old investor in DGPT. “No one wants to admit that they lost money, but everyone who fooled themselves into investing here lost in the end.”

Similar applications, same scheme

In the beginning, Conti went out of its way to appear legitimate. Those behind it first registered in Britain and then issued PR statements claiming enormous growth. The claims went unchallenged.

Through local representatives, Conti opened up two offices in North Macedonia – one in Radovish in the southeast and another in Kavadarci in the south. It sponsored a futsal club and advertised in the East Gate Mall in the capital, Skopje.

When fraud warnings began surfacing online, Conti published a video of a press conference it claimed took place in London, but media in Slovenia analysed the video and found it was recorded in Colombia. One of the speakers turned out to be an actor playing a satisfied investor.

Conti published a video of a press conference it claimed took place in London. Printscreen: BIRN

Two weeks later, DGPT held its own ‘conference’. The same woman who appeared at the Conti presser addressed the DGPT’s own event as CEO Sarah Thomson; the other individuals identified as company directors could not be found online, while the app has repeatedly changed its website.

Roughly 100 people responded to a BIRN questionnaire about their experience with such apps. The scams appear to have been very successful in North Macedonia.

“I deposited $500,” wrote one respondent. “I was supposed to receive $22 per day but suddenly the application stopped transferring money and now they are even asking for $100 dollars to activate it. It’s a catastrophic application.”

Another wrote: “The worst thing was that the people who entered the scheme earlier then organised public presentations explaining how to invest [or, more precisely, how to lose money]. Sometimes, there were people who looked decent and serious, so you say to yourself: ‘If they invested, why shouldn’t I?’ It’s another way of pulling you in deeper because you start to include relatives, friends and acquaintances in the ‘game’.”

Investments continue

North Macedonia’s Financial Intelligence Authority says it is monitoring such scheme and has urged the public not to invest in “fictitious and fraudulent investment platforms”.

Conti and DGPT are not the only such apps out there, yet police say they have not received any complaints from scammed investors.

One user, a 32-year-old man from Kavadarci, said no one went to the police because they were pulled into the scheme by their own friends or relatives.

The same woman who appeared at a Conti press conference addressed the DGPT’s event as CEO Sarah Thomson. Printscreen: BIRN

The man said he invested in Conti in May, when the whole town was talking about it. He invested several hundred euros and recruited his wife, cousins and close friends. It was an adrenaline rush, he told BIRN.

“The fear was the same every day – that the app will disappear,” he said. “You know it won’t last, but you say to yourself – what if it does?”

Mijalce Santa, an economics professor at the St Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, said such apps were classic examples of social engineering, in which users are promised incredible earnings while the first investors are paid with money from those who follow. Trust is key, he said. Hence why they thrive in places like North Macedonia, where family and social ties are close.

“A buzz is created around the app and it becomes important for you to be part of the group, to say you’re in it,” Santa told BIRN.

Then comes the adrenaline rush, making quitting much more difficult.

“It will happen again in three years’ time,” he said. “That’s enough time to forget what is happening now.”