Human Rights Action informs that the Ministry of the Interior responded to the request for access to information about the prosecution of cases of vandalism motivated by racism and nationalism, which occurred in Montenegro in 2012 and 2013.

Of the six cases known to the general public that HRA sought information about, in three cases the perpetrators have not been identified and the investigation is still ongoing (writing racist graffiti on the front door of the game room of Al-Mustafa family in Podgorica on 19 March 2013; writing racist graffiti on the front door of the flat of Bahtijar family in Podgorica on 28 May 2013; stoning the bus with fans of Croatian sports team “Hajduk” on 26 July 2013).

In three cases the perpetrators have been identified – in two cases the perpetrators were juveniles, so they were warned, or put under increased parental supervision (the case of stoning the bus with fans of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia sports teams in Branelovići in 2012 and writing the graffiti on the wall of elementary school in Tivat), and in the third case the results of misdemeanour proceedings initiated against the perpetrator, who confessed writing the graffiti on the mailbox of the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) in Tivat, on 21 March 2013, are still unknown.

There has been an unequal approach to the qualification of offenses by the Public Prosecutor’s Office – in the cases of writing graffiti on the mailbox of HGI: “JSO Serbia, p…..s, sooner or later boom“ and on the wall of elementary school “Drago Milović” in Tivat: “Oh Ustashas, you just wait, there is a deep grave waiting for you”, the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Kotor found that they represent a misdemeanour – violation of public order and peace, while in the case of writing graffiti “Move out, gypsies”, the High State Prosecutor in Podgorica found that it represents a criminal offense of causing ethnic, racial and religious hatred and intolerance, which we considered justified.

We urge the police to persist in the investigation of these cases that have characteristics of racism, and the Supreme State Prosecutor to ensure an equal application of the law in order to combat these offenses presenting particular danger to society.

Below is a detailed overview of the response of the Ministry of the Interior on individual cases:

1) in the case of stoning the bus with fans of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia sports fans, which occurred in Branelovica on 9 August 2012, perpetrators were juveniles, and were imposed an educational measure of increased supervision by a parent for a period of three months;

2) in the case of stoning the bus with fans of sports team “Hajduk” from Split, which occurred on 26 July 2013 in Budva, the Police Security Centre Budva failed to identify the perpetrators, and the investigation is still in progress;

3) in the case of vandalism and writing offensive graffiti on the game room “PC Sar”, owned by Al-Mustafa family, on 19 March 2013, the Police Security Centre Podgorica obtained information that the perpetrators were two juveniles and three adults. Their manuscripts and the manuscript of Mohamed Al Mustafa were sent to graphology analysis. The results are not yet complete;

4) in the case of writing hate speech graffiti (“Oh Ustashas, you just wait, there is a deep grave waiting for you”) in March 2012 on the wall of elementary school “Drago Milović” in Tivat, officers of Safety Department Tivat identified two juveniles. The Basic State Prosecutor in Kotor, Boris Savić, stated that this case does not represent a criminal offense, but a misdemeanour. The President of the Regional Misdemeanour Body in Kotor, Tomislav Vojinović, stated that there was not enough evidence that the identified juveniles wrote the graffiti, although they confessed writing other graffiti, and therefore, being juveniles,  they were warned, and ​​the official record was made on 23 March 2012;

5) in the case of vandalism and hate speech by writing offensive graffiti “JSO Serbia, p…..s, sooner or later boom” on the mailbox of Croatian Civic Initiative on 21 March 2013 in Tivat, the Deputy Basic State Prosecutor in Kotor stated that there is no element of criminal offense, and that the case represents a misdemeanour, in accordance with Article 19 of the Public Order and Peace Act. The Police have identified the perpetrator, who upon arrest confessed committing the offense, and the motion for initiating criminal proceedings was submitted against him, but the Regional Misdemeanour Body in Kotor has not yet provided the results of the proceedings;

6) in the case of writing graffiti, “Move out, gypsies” in front of the flat of Bahtijar family on 28 May 2013 in Podgorica, Deputy High Public Prosecutor, Miloš Šoškic, stated that it represents a criminal offense under Art. 370 of the CC Causing national, race and religious hatred, divisions and intolerance. In this case the police investigation (by officers of criminal investigation unit for suppressing blood and sexual assaults) is still in progress.