Non-governmental organisations and civic activists today called on the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office to urgently prosecute two new cases of public glorification of war criminal Ratko Mladić, in Bar and Kotor.
We also call on the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office to determine why the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica has failed for six months to make a decision regarding the chanting in support of Mladić at a match in Zeta. It is precisely because the prosecution did not respond to the first reported case that the glorification of a convicted war criminal is becoming an established and unpunished occurrence at religious, cultural and sporting events in Montenegro.
We recall that Mladić was finally convicted before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The first new case occurred on 26 September at the Cultural Centre Bar. At a concert by the choir “Fenečki biseri”, organised by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the consecration of the Cathedral of Saint Jovan Vladimir, the song “Đenerale, đenerale” was performed. In recent years, this song has become established as a public tribute to Mladić, particularly following his death. A song portraying Montenegro exclusively as a Serbian land was also performed in a public cultural institution.
The second case occurred a day later, on 27 September, at the water polo match between VPK Primorac and VK Partizan in Kotor, as part of the Regional League. The media did not report on it, but citizens who attended the match informed us about it. We proposed that the Prosecutor’s Office obtain footage from the club and the organisers, video-surveillance recordings and broadcast footage, as well as official records of the police and the match delegate.
Since March, the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica has been conducting a preliminary investigation into the chanting in support of Mladić at the basketball match between KK Vukovi Zeta and KK Ibar Rožaje, played on 11 March. On that occasion, a group of supporters, including children, chanted in support of Mladić at the team from Rožaje, a town whose population is predominantly Bosniak. They belong to the people against whom Mladić committed genocide in Srebrenica. Although video footage exists, to date we have not been informed of a single action taken. In the meantime, such incidents have continued to recur, particularly following Mladić’s death on 27 August.
The glorification of persons convicted of genocide and war crimes is not an expression of freedom of opinion. It amounts to approval of crimes, insults victims and their families, and spreads hatred towards the communities against which those crimes were directed. Moreover, children are being taught a complete lack of empathy towards innocent victims and their families, whose lives have been permanently devastated.
Failure to prosecute such cases sends the message that such conduct is acceptable and will go unpunished. The legal framework for sanctioning such conduct exists; what is lacking is consistent enforcement, which is also one of the benchmarks for Montenegro’s progress under negotiating Chapter 23.
Therefore, we call on the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office to: act without delay in the cases from Bar and Kotor and, in cooperation with the Police Directorate, identify the performers, participants and organisers; within the framework of its supervisory authority, determine why the Zeta case has remained at the preliminary investigation stage for six months and ensure that a decision is made urgently; examine the responsibility of the organisers, including the Cultural Centre Bar as a public institution, as well as the organisers of sporting events; issue a generally binding instruction to prosecutors on how to proceed in cases involving the glorification of convicted war criminals; and publicly disclose the results of the actions taken, as well as data on previous handling of such cases: the number of reports, the number of dismissed reports and the reasons for their dismissal, the number of indictments, and the outcomes of proceedings.
Human Rights Action (HRA)
Centre for Civic Education (CCE)
Centre for Women’s and Peace Education – ANIMA
Women’s Rights Center
Juventas
Prima
Dina Bajramspahić
Jovana Marović
Almedina Dodić
Emir Pilav
Paula Petričević
Milica Kankaraš Berber