While the punishments are mild, the beatings are fierce

Almost 2.600 juvenile delinquents were prosecuted in Montenegro in the last ten years, and because of the last case known to the public - the beating of two teenagers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country was also red with shame, and the officials apologized.

Juvenile delinquency, including the violence that is an everyday occurrence, is influenced by numerous factors - social, family, educational, but also often inadequate punishments for committed crimes.

In the publication "Measures and sanctions against juvenile offenders", author Vasilija Radulović, writes that the legislative framework governing the issue of minors in criminal proceedings provides quality solutions and that it is "almost fully in line with international conventions and standards, enabling actions tailored to the child".

He states that the content of the judgments indicates that the penal policy is "rather lenient, especially towards minors who are repeat offenders.

"It is noticeable that there is a discrepancy between the law and its application in practice, which, in the opinion of defenders of human rights and freedoms, makes juvenile justice one of the weakest links in the judicial system," it says in a publication published by the Center for Civic Education in September 2022. (CGO).

Radulović also explains that juvenile delinquency is a product of unfavorable social, family, educational and other conditions in which a juvenile is formed during growing up:

”And which negatively affect the development of his value framework. The complexity and sensitivity of the problem of juvenile delinquency, as well as the consequences for the further path of the juvenile delinquent, require the proactive participation of various spheres of society, especially institutions that deal with the rights of minors within their jurisdiction".

One behind bars, four at large

Suspected of violence against two athletes from Sarajevo, Božidar Kaluđerović (18), after the hearing at the Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT) in Bar, a detention of up to 72 hours was ordered.

Four juvenile bullies - AK, SL, SL i V.Ć. they were released after being questioned by the police - the prosecutor ordered the inspectors to file criminal charges against them in the regular procedure.

The ODT in Bar announced that, in relation to them, the juvenile prosecutor qualified the criminal offense as violent behavior resulting in serious physical injury:

"They will also be subject to urgent proceedings in accordance with the provisions of the Act on Treatment of Minors in Criminal Procedures".

One of the minors, who was released after the hearing, recorded a video in the police premises in which he recounts the injuries suffered by the two athletes who attacked him and states:

"However, we did not go unpunished".

On the evening of April 15, five violent teenagers from Bar attacked two minor athletes of the Sarajevo Athletic Club who came to Montenegro for training.

The police, the prosecutor's office, but none of the state officials who spoke out and condemned the violence in the past two days, did not inform the public about it. Institutions and officials were silent about it.

The attack on two teenagers who went to the store to buy snacks and were beaten by five of their peers - thugs - became known thanks to the mother of one of the athletes from Sarajevo, a journalist. Arduani Pribinja.

Yesterday, on her Twitter account, she also commented on the information that the four attackers were released.

"Children must know that such acts will not go unpunished. And they are punished with adequate sanctions. Otherwise, politics, first of all, normalizes the most terrible social patterns that will give rise to unsolvable social problems," she wrote.

Devastating data

Violence among minors has become everyday, and just since the beginning of the year, the public has been repeatedly confronted with disturbing reports and videos. A group of thugs who tried to restore order among peers in Podgorica - was prosecuted. However, new thugs have appeared who recently harassed three high school students several times. Reports of violence or mistreatment came from Danilovgrad, Cetinje, Nikšić...

According to data from the Prosecutor's Office, 332 cases were filed against juvenile perpetrators of criminal offenses last year.

The data of the Statistics Administration (Monstat) for the period from 2011 to 2021 are devastating - almost 2.600 minors have been charged with some of the criminal offenses in the past ten years. This practically means that a case of juvenile delinquency was processed five times a week. 1.557 minors were accused, while 1.382 minors were sentenced by the force of law.

In that period, the most minor perpetrators of criminal offenses were registered in 2021 - 265, and the least in 2012 - 207.

Among the reported juvenile offenders, there are more males.

As explained by Monstat, data on minor perpetrators of criminal offenses were obtained through regular annual statistical surveys, based on individual statistical questionnaires filled out by competent state prosecutors' offices (primary and higher) and competent courts (primary and higher).

Juvenile perpetrators are considered to be teenagers who were 14 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime, up to the age of majority - 18 years.

Croatian law is stricter

The legal solutions that address juvenile delinquency in the countries of the region are almost identical, that is, the age limit of criminal responsibility is the same, Radulović wrote in the publication.

He also states that in Croatia, a juvenile can be sentenced to prison if he has committed a criminal offense for which a prison sentence of more than three years is threatened.

In Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is imposed only for crimes for which a prison sentence of more than five years is provided.

Radulović also explained that in the laws governing this area in BiH and Croatia, there is a kind of educational measure of referral to a disciplinary center, but such a solution does not exist in Montenegro and Serbia.

From a shelter for educationally neglected children, to an open-type institution

The models of institutions where juvenile offenders and perpetrators of criminal offenses are housed have changed, and today Montenegro has a Juvenile Prison and a Center for Children and Youth "Ljubović".

Almost six decades ago, in 1965, the Shelter for educationally neglected children and youth was established. Juveniles stayed in that institution after being sentenced to educational measures from six months to three years

According to the available data, that institution was organized in 1974 as an Institute for Juvenile Education. The activity was care, upbringing and education, professional training, as well as providing health care to children and youth with disorders in social behavior:

"And taking appropriate measures in order to prevent the commission of criminal acts and generally accepted social norms".

17 years ago, that institution in Podgorica was organized as the JU Center for Children and Youth "Ljubović", that is, a social and child protection institution that deals with the institutional protection of children in conflict with the law, as well as children who find themselves in a state of social need.

At the beginning of last year, the director of that institution reported to the police that some inmates were using psychoactive substances.

Then it was announced that in that open-type institution, drug use went unpunished...