The prosecution's silence encourages the glorification of a criminal ideology

The failure of the competent authorities to act has sent a clear message that the public glorification of a criminal ideology is permissible, creating an environment in which it is now freely manifested, including at gatherings attended by public officials or heads of educational institutions. It is particularly dangerous to relativize these phenomena or justify them as „celebration“. The normalization of wartime songs that glorify criminals offends the descendants of victims and, in the long term, destroys social cohesion and interethnic relations in Montenegro.

A group of NGOs and civic activists condemned yesterday’s repeated glorification of the Chetnik movement in Podgorica on the occasion of the Orthodox holiday of Epiphany, stressing that religious holidays must not be used as an opportunity to glorify violence and an ideology responsible for ethnic cleansing and other crimes. The true spirit of such holidays, they emphasized, should be the promotion of respect and peace among people.

Among other things, those gathered sang the wartime song „Od Topole pa do Ravne Gore“ („From Topola to Ravna Gora“), which glorifies notorious Chetnik commanders Pavle Đurišić and Momčilo Đujić, who were responsible for mass crimes against civilians and antifascists during the Second World War in Montenegro.

Unfortunately, according to them, such incidents are not isolated but rather part of a continuous pattern of public glorification of the Chetnik movement in Montenegro, which keeps recurring due to the absence of a clear and decisive response from the competent institutions.

They point out that the public glorification of the Chetnik movement and its commanders constitutes hate speech and incitement to intolerance toward other communities, which also carries criminal liability.

- Such glorification particularly incites hatred toward the Bosniak population and members of the Islamic faith in Montenegro, all of which is punishable under Article 370, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, as well as in accordance with Articles 9a and 34a of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination and Article 19 of the Law on Public Order and Peace - they stated.

The statement was signed by Action for Human Rights, the Association Spektra, the ANIMA Centre for Women’s and Peace Education, the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIN CG), the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM), the Centre for the Development of Non-Governmental Organizations (CRNVO), the Centre for Women’s Rights (CŽP), the Montenegrin PEN Centre, the Montenegrin Philological Society, the Montenegrin Committee of Lawyers for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms (CKM), the Institute for Media of Montenegro, Ipso Facto, Juventas, Prima, the Safe Women’s House, as well as civic activists Dina Bajramspahić, Paula Petričević, Milena Bešić, and journalist Vesna Rajković-Nenadić.

- Over the past year, we have witnessed the continuous public glorification of Pavle Đurišić by certain religious leaders and political actors, without an adequate response from the competent prosecutorial authorities, culminating in the setting up of a memorial momument in August. The failure of the authorities to act has sent a clear message that the public glorification of a criminal ideology is allowed, creating an environment in which it is now freely expressed, including at gatherings attended by holders of public office or heads of educational institutions. It is particularly dangerous to relativize these phenomena or justify them as „celebration“. The normalization of wartime songs that glorify criminals insults the descendants of victims and, in the long term, destroys social cohesion and interethnic relations in Montenegro - the statement reads.

They also stated that they are demanding that the State Prosecutor’s Office urgently review its previous failure to oppose the glorification of Pavle Đurišić and other Chetnik commanders and to professionally investigate this incident as well.