Organized Evasion of Facing the War Past

Podgorica, (MINA) - Among Montenegrin authorities there is no political willingness for the case of the deportation of Bosnian refugees to be resolved in the right way, and in Montenegro there is organized evasion of facing the own war past. These were the conclusions of the tribune organized on the occasion of that event.

The meeting "Resistance to Oblivion - 16 years from the Deportation of Bosnian Refugees", at the Faculty of Political Sciences, was organized by the weekly "Monitor" and the Centre for Civic Education (CCE).

It was said at the tribune that the war crime of the deportation of Bosnian refugees from Montenegro, which happened 16 years ago, has not yet been resolved, that justice is still waited for and the message has been sent that there will be no giving up on justice.

It was emphasized that even Montenegro needs to introduce a remembrance day for all deportation victims and to unveil a monument in one of town squares.

The Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Branimir Jukić, and the representatives of the Movement for Changes attended the meeting.

Šeki Radončić, a journalist, said that he was not surprised by the absence of the representatives of Montenegrin authorities, since for years the evidence on the deportation of Bosnian refugees had been systematically destroyed.

"In the Parliament of Montenegro and in the Ministry of Interior systematic destruction of the documentation has been carried out. Neither Ranko Krivokapić, nor Jusuf Kalamperović have considered it appropriate to reprimand somebody", he said.

Radončić stated that last year in front of the Montenegrin Embassy in Sarajevo the Remembrance Day was organized for all deportation victims, and the Ambassador Ramiz Bašić had the door locked.

"The Minister of Foreign Affairs did not dismiss the Ambassador because of that, neither did he reprimand him", he said.

Radončić also reminded that the Montenegrin President Filip Vujanović said that Montenegro had been receiving refugees with outstretched arms and seeing them happily off to their homes, judging that this was an "inhumane and cynical statement".

"Who is this judge in Montenegro, following such a statement of the President of the State, who can adjudicate in a fair way, correctly and by the law in deportation cases?", he asked.

According to his words, Vujanović by that statement took full responsibility for the obstruction of these judicial proceedings.

Radončić thinks that Montenegro must face the case of deportation of Bosnian refugees morally, criminally and substantively.

A journalist from Monitor, Milka Tadić-Mijović, said that the cases of war crimes do not fall under the statute of limitations, but also that one cannot expect from Montenegrin authorities to make justice.

"Justice is hard to achieve when in Montenegro those who order that crime are in power", she stated.

She said that the truth on the deportation of refugees had to be established, but that it was uncertain since it was hard to expect from the Montenegrin courts to make justice.

One of the founders of Monitor, Miodrag Perović, considers that Montenegro today is moving further away from the legal outcome of the deportation case.

"Montenegrin judges estimate nowadays that the spiritual anguish caused by a Monitor journalist to Emir Kusturica, by saying that his political views, which he still propagates, inspired the crimes of the 90-ies, is approximately equal to the pain of the mothers whose sons were murdered in these crimes", stated Perović.

He said that further organization of such meetings was justified in order not to prevent that the events from the 90-ies to fall into oblivion without justice being satisfied.

The Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Society of Serbia, Nataša Kandić, criticized Montenegrin authorities for not having courage to send their representatives to this meeting.

She said that the families of the victims and the public still wait for the information as top how the deportation was carried out and what was going on.

"Without these facts, no compensation for damages to victims will be appropriate, because there will always exist the need for the truth about that to be made known", stated Kandić.

She reminded that two years ago a letter was sent to the Montenegrin Parliament to designate one day in May as the Remembrance Day for deportation victims, but no answer has ever come from the Parliament.

The Director of CCE, Daliborka Uljarević, said that the Montenegrin authorities in a systematic and continuous way have been resisting facing the past.

"It is the obligation of the civil sector and all the citizens not to accept parallel reality being created and new history which is being imposed, but to insist on truth and responsibility", she said.

Uljarević stated that the path towards the European Union "may not be based on the alteration of our history and of the history of our neighbours".

She said that the case of deportation is an important test for Montenegrin institutions, judiciary in particular, and that Montenegro cannot be truly called a country with the rule of law until all the victims get access to justice.

The lawyer of the families of deported persons, Dragan Prelević, reminded of 28 judgments passed in deportation cases, which the Montenegrin State appealed against, so none of them is effective.

He said that most probably new trials are to be scheduled, which means that the whole thing will be "delayed for who knows how long".

Prelević said that the war against victims continues, since various emissaries try to persuade their families to withdraw their accusations.

He underlined that all the victims had been innocent people, stating that it was not true that the deported persons had committed any crime.

The retired inspector of Herceg Novi Security Centre, Slobodan Pejović, was awarded a Letter of Gratitude by the Congress of North American Bosniaks for sincere and brave testimony on the deportation of refugees.

Commenting on the testimonies of former police officials during the investigation on the deportation, he said that these persons had been "bad actors and even worse policemen".

"All what they had said was not true", said Pejović.

He said that the dispatch signed by the former Minister of Interior, Pavle Bulatović, read that all the Moslems from Bosnia and Herzegovina, aged between 18 and 72, found in the territory of Montenegro, were to be arrested and handed over to the authorities of the Republic of Srpska.

"This is true and everything else is a lie", said Pejović.