Human Rights Action (HRA) and the Women’s Rights Center filed a complaint with the Council for Civilian Oversight of Police Work regarding the police conduct during the mass crime in Cetinje on January 1, 2025.

The purpose of the complaint is to establish the relevant facts and evaluate the actions of the Police Directorate in order to determine accountability for any shortcomings and strengthen the protection of the right to life and security in Montenegro.

The Council for Civilian Oversight of the Police Work is an independent mechanism for monitoring police activities. It evaluates the application of police powers to protect human rights and freedoms. The Council is led by lawyer Zoran Čelebić, with members including Milena Popović Samardžić, representative of the Medical Chamber of Montenegro, Dražen Cerović, representative of the University of Montenegro, Branislav Radulović, representative of the Association of Lawyers of Montenegro and Aida Petrović, representative of NGOs working on human rights.

In our complaint, we requested the Council to investigate the facts and assess the application of police powers in the context of protecting the lives and safety of the citizens of Cetinje, with a focus on the following issues:

• Who, when, and in what manner notified the police about the murders on January 1 in Cetinje, and what actions were taken by the police officers in response to these reports?
• How many operational police officers were present in Cetinje on January 1 during the commission of the mass crime, and what measures were taken to enhance security in Cetinje following the mass murder on August 12, 2022?
• The statement made by the Acting Director of the Police Directorate, mentioning only 11 police officers present in Cetinje at the time of the murder, indicates that insufficient measures were taken to improve security following the previous tragedy. Therefore, the responsible authorities must be held accountable. This also raises the question of how many of those 11 officers were actually operational at the time of the murders.
• Why was the Police Directorate unable to locate and apprehend the perpetrator of the mass murder for over five and a half hours?
• How did the perpetrator gain access to illegal weapons and ammunition, and did the police take the necessary preventive measures to protect citizens’ safety?
• Were there any prior reports against the perpetrator of the mass crime regarding domestic violence, and if so, what actions were taken in response to these reports?

The lack of information regarding the existence and progress of procedures to investigate and evaluate the application of police powers on January 1, 2025, in Cetinje, as well as solely affirmative statements from officials about police actions, is concerning. This approach does not contribute to enhancing security or protecting human rights.

We expect the Council to conduct an impartial analysis and provide the public with answers regarding the mass crime in Cetinje, which has been absent for 25 days.

We expect the Council to thoroughly and independently investigate and verify the information provided by the Police Directorate and evaluate the actions of the responsible state officials to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

The complaint and all additional questions and analyses we have requested are available here.