We welcome the decision of the Disciplinary Commission of the Football Association of Montenegro (FSCG) to initiate proceedings against FK Zeta over the unsportsmanlike conduct of its supporters during the match against Grbalj in Radanovići, when the name of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić was chanted from the stands. This is the same pattern of behaviour that we condemned in March, when his name was also chanted during the basketball match between KK Vukovi Zeta and KK Ibar Rožaje.
The response of the FSCG Disciplinary Commission is encouraging and important for protecting sport from nationalist radicalisation, but it is not sufficient. Given that such incidents are recurring, it is equally important that sports clubs and other institutions act preventively and send a clear message to their players and supporters that the glorification of war criminals has no place on sports fields or in the stands.
When prevention fails, institutions are obliged to act. The glorification of convicted war criminals constitutes the criminal offence of inciting hatred and intolerance, punishable under the Criminal Code of Montenegro by imprisonment from six months to five years. This is, therefore, not merely a matter of sport, but also a matter of criminal law. We therefore believe that the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica, like the Disciplinary Commission, should have publicly responded to this latest incident without delay.
It is particularly concerning that, since March, when we first raised this issue and a case was opened regarding the chanting at the basketball match in Zeta, the prosecution has remained at the preliminary inquiry stage, with no progress towards identifying and prosecuting those responsible. The slow pace and lack of transparency in the authorities’ response send a message that the glorification of war criminals is tolerated, thereby encouraging the recurrence of such incidents – as has now happened, this time at a football match.
We call on the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica to urgently disclose the outcome of its preliminary inquiry into the March incident and, on the same grounds, to initiate proceedings without delay regarding the latest incident at the FK Zeta – Grbalj match.
Institutional accountability must be consistent and timely, rather than selective and sporadic. The rule of law, which is also reflected in the effective suppression of hate speech, is a condition for Montenegro’s accession to the European Union.
- Human Rights Action (HRA)
- Anti-Fascists of Cetinje
- Association Spektra
- Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM)
- Centre for Civic Education (CCE)
- Centre for Monitoring and Research (CeMI)
- Centre for Development of Non-Governmental Organisations (CRNVO)
- Women’s Rights Centre (WRC)
- Centre for Women’s and Peace Education ANIMA
- Montenegrin LGBTIQ Association Queer Montenegro
- Montenegrin Philological Society
- Montenegrin Committee of Lawyers for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms (CKM)
- Montenegrin Science and Technology Hub – epiSTEMe
- Montenegrin PEN Centre
- Montenegrin Women’s Lobby
- Dr Martin Schneider-Jacoby Association – MSJA
- Association of Montenegrin Publishers
- Expeditio
- Forum for Youth and Informal Education (Forum MNE)
- Civic Initiative 21 May
- Media Institute of Montenegro
- Ipso Facto
- Juventas
- Open Centre “Bona Fide” – Pljevlja
- Prima
- Alliance for Children and Youth Kuća
- Women’s Safe House
- Association of History Teachers of Montenegro – HIPMONT
- Parents Association
- Association “Štrpci – Against Forgetting”
- Women’s Action
- Dina Bajramspahić, civic activist
- Jovana Marović, civic activist
- Milena Bešić, civic activist
- Nikoleta Đukanović, civic activist
- Vesna Rajković Nenadić, journalist
- Ana Milović Jasikovac, civic activist