Podgorica: Glorifying War Criminals to Become a Crime

The parliamentary group of the European Alliance in the Parliament of Montenegro announced on September 9, at 12:46 p.m., that it will propose amendments to the Criminal Code that would explicitly make it a criminal offense to publicly glorify individuals convicted by a final verdict of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The proposal comes as the question of how to treat final verdicts for war crimes from the 1990s is being reopened across the region, including in Serbia, where a similar debate over glorifying convicted war criminals resurfaces around nearly every anniversary marking war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia.

The European Alliance says Montenegro’s existing legal framework is not precise enough and leaves room for glorification of convicted war criminals, their portrayal as heroes and role models, and various forms of publicly paying them tribute to often go unpunished under criminal law. The group cites recent events witnessed by the Montenegrin public as part of the reasoning behind the proposal.

“Freedom of speech is one of the fundamental values of a democratic society, but it must not become a cover for normalizing war crimes.”

That is how the parliamentary group put it in its statement, adding that the intent is not to restrict freedom of expression but to close the legal loophole that has so far allowed glorification of war criminals with final convictions to go unsanctioned. According to the announcement, the amendments to the Criminal Code will be submitted to parliamentary procedure in the coming days. The European Alliance says it expects broad political consensus and is calling on all parliamentary groups to support the proposal, adding that the provision must be precise enough to prevent abuse while also clear enough that glorifying war criminals can no longer slip through legal gaps.

The trigger, a councilor’s arrest over Mladic

The initiative comes shortly after, as srpske.rs previously reported in “Milivoje Brkovic Arrested for Supporting Mladic,” Milivoje Brkovic, a councilor from United Montenegro, was arrested for glorifying convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic. That case also triggered a political reaction in Podgorica itself. Andrija Klikovac, head of the Democratic Party of Socialists caucus in the Podgorica City Assembly, spoke out the same day, September 9, at 2:14 p.m., about Brkovic’s conduct and what he described as the cooperation between Brkovic and Podgorica Mayor Sasa Mujovic.

Klikovac described that cooperation as a solid coalition and maximum cooperation built on shared values, and followed the remark with an ironic jab about a possible street name.

“I expect Mujovic and Brkovic to propose that a street in Podgorica be named after Mladic.”

Klikovac also said he expects Mujovic to praise, as he has before, the record of Vladislav Dajkovic, a former leading figure of the same ruling majority, and posed a direct question to the mayor about whether he would comment on the conduct of part of the ruling majority in Podgorica.

“Mr. Mayor, do you dare comment on the conduct of parts of the majority in Podgorica?”

The Bosniak Party, for its part, called on Mayor Mujovic to order the immediate removal of graffiti glorifying Ratko Mladic, widening the circle of political actors who reacted to the Brkovic case beyond the parties gathered around the European Alliance.

What happens next in parliament

It is not yet known when the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code will formally reach lawmakers in the Parliament of Montenegro, or whether they will win the support the European Alliance is hoping for from caucuses that have so far been reserved on the question of how to treat war crimes from the 1990s. As of publication, neither the Podgorica mayor’s office had responded to Klikovac’s questions, nor had the Bosniak Party’s call to remove the graffiti drawn a reaction.