Arrest

We often hear the term "police state". What would that be? What is the experience here with the police state? Has Montenegro ever been different? To one extent or another, all Montenegrin states from King Nikola until today were police and undemocratic.

Again, and this is unusual, although I grew up in an enlightened, decent, but also police state like the SFRY, we associated the term "police state", in addition to the traditional stronghold of such a concept in Eastern Europe, primarily to Latin American regimes, military juntas in then Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Nicaragua... So the political reality of that part of the world was a measure of an unfree society, an uncontrolled government, a "police state" in one formulation, no matter how exotic it was. How did we know that, since we weren't very regular viewers of the TV news? We knew thanks to their writers. There is no one who has not tried his hand at the topic of dictatorship - from Marquez, Ro Bastos and Benedetti to Ljosa and Bolanje.

I remember the great novel "Bells for Rankas" by the somewhat forgotten Peruvian writer Manuel Scorsa. One good detail: the main villain in the novel is called Colonel Montenegro. Simply, that is his surname, there is no allusion to this country. He is the mainstay of a strategic investor, a certain American company that is destroying the town of Rankas. As the resistance grew, the colonel's measures were increasingly harsh. After killing twenty or so rebellious workers in a basement, a subordinate asks him - what should he cite as the cause of death. "Mass heart attack," replied Colonel Montenegro calmly. The cynicism of power.

This kind of arrest of Medojević shows exactly that kind of cynicism. Because this is not an arrest, but "imprisonment". It is still emphasized - the man is not suspected or accused, but this is something like an educational measure from the judiciary. The moment when one of the regime's kerbers thought of this "catch" - putting him in prison, not detention, and parliamentary immunity is not an obstacle for that, the spirit of Skorsa's colonel was resurrected in him, if only for a moment. The opinion of legal authorities should be heard on all these formulations, in the end, I guess the Constitutional Court will also give its opinion on all this.

But it is evident how much the Montenegrin public scene lacks principles. Medojević is easy on the statements, he annoyed many with that, but the judgment about the events must be, in Kantian terms, "disinterested" in order to be valid. Leave anger and other emotions, these are too important things...

The authorities are sending a strong message. A message that will raise the level of self-censorship in this society to unprecedented proportions. As if he wasn't already (frighteningly) tall enough.

A police state is one in which writers, journalists, judges, officials act as if they were the praetorian guard of the regime. When everyone becomes the "guardian of your honesty" usually no one knows what honesty is.

It is not good for Montenegro to be a police state, because no police state is eternal - there is no such police that can guard a bad government for an infinite amount of time. So that practice is completely contrary to the anthem. In this way, it will not be possible to "make it eternal". So, one way or another, the regime will pass, but the insanity will remain... The people who, serving such nemana, were ready for anything, will remain among us. Just as the same ones from the previous "setups" of the police state remained among us.

My personal utopia: a Montenegro where such events are not possible, a Montenegro that is not, in one way or another, a police state. Is something so simple really in the utopia zone?

The humiliation of the congregation is also on stage. And that is appreciated, it's been a while... And all the MPs, whatever they are. And who will protect them? The president of the parliament, a saint with a halo, a model of Ramad? Had he also witnessed something?

Step by step along this path, that's how you get to that "massive heart attack"...