In the last seven years, 19 women were killed in Montenegro. In 16 cases, we are talking about femicide, which is not recognized as a separate criminal offense by Montenegrin legislation.
There is no official data on the number of femicides because the courts do not have precise statistics, Marija Raković from the Podgorica High Court confirmed to Radio Free Europe (RSE).
In the Progress Report of Montenegro for 2023, the European Commission stated that the growing trend in the number of femicides and the fact that judicial practice for violence against women is very worrisome is a very worrisome problem.
Data from the Center for Women's Rights show that from February 2017 to January of this year, there were 15 cases of femicide, while RSE, through a search of court records and the media, found data on 19 murdered women.
The sentences are uneven - from 12 to 40 years in prison - and, if you can say so, they benefit the murderers, former president of the Constitutional Court, Blagota Mitrić, told RSE.
"Twelve years is not a low but too low sentence for me. In my judgment, most of these murders were carried out in a brutal manner and for low motives, which is the most serious crime, especially if the victim is a woman. This should be an aggravating circumstance, especially if the killer is a man," assesses Mitrić.
Murdered women
Vera Drobnjak (49), a professor from Podgorica, and her minor son were killed with a gun in January 2024 by her husband, retired police officer Mileta Drobnjak (52), and then committed suicide.
Branka Petrović (47) from Herceg Novi was killed in June 2022 with shots from a rifle by her ex-husband Bojan Rašović.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for premeditated murder before the Podgorica High Court. Judge Igor Đuričković stated that Rašović "committed the murder in a state of significantly reduced sanity" and sentenced him to mandatory treatment and custody in the Kotor psychiatric hospital.
Zumrit Nerda (27) was beaten by her unmarried husband Dalibor Nikolić (33) for two days, as a result of which she succumbed to her injuries in January 2022.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for domestic violence. The judgment of the High Court is not final. Judge Veljko Radovanović concluded that although Nikolić beat the pregnant Zumrita for hours with a bat and fists, "he did not intend to kill her."
Edisa Škrijelj (36) was injured by her husband Ahmed Škrijelj (2021) with a blunt object in October 50 in Petnjica in the north of Montenegro, after which she succumbed to her injuries. He committed suicide.
Šejla Bakija (19) was killed by her ex-unmarried husband Ilir Đokaj (28) in front of her parents' house in Tuzi, September 2021. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison in the High Court on April 15. The verdict is not final.
Ivana Premović (39) from Beran was killed in front of her children in November 2020 with a gun by her husband, a police officer, Puniša Premović (47). The High Court sentenced him to mandatory psychiatric treatment and custody in a psychiatric hospital in Kotor, which was confirmed by the Court of Appeal in October 2022.
According to the indictment, on September 54, 3, Ljiljana Simić (2020), a Canadian citizen, was killed "in an insidious manner and out of self-interest" by Radomir Delić and Zoran Marić (47), with whom she was in an emotional relationship. Marić was sentenced to 40 years in prison, and Delić was acquitted by a verdict of the Podgorica High Court in April 2023. Eight months later, the Court of Appeal overturned the verdict and ordered a retrial.
Dušanka Jocović (25) was killed in December 2019 in Novi Sad by her ex-boyfriend Dejan Dabović from Herceg Novi. Judge Ivana Josifović from Novi Sad sentenced him to life imprisonment "for aggravated murder out of wanton revenge". After Dabović requested that he serve his sentence in Montenegro, the High Court in Podgorica "recognized the verdict and sentenced him to 40 years" because there is no life imprisonment in Montenegrin law.
Savica Krivokapić (68) from Cetinje was killed in December 2019 by her son Pavla Krivokapić (47). He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for "murder in a brutal manner", after concluding an agreement with the prosecutor on January 31, 2021. According to the indictment, he took the mother to the forest, repeatedly hit her on the head and body with an object, and put a metal bucket on her over the head, continuing to strike her until death ensued.
Kristina Raičević (18) from Nikšić, a high school student, was killed by a minor NB (2019) in September 15. The Podgorica High Court ordered him to be sent to a prison-type institution for three years. The verdict is not final. Judge Vesna Kovačević stated in the verdict that NB killed Raičević with intent after preparing a knife and luring her to take a taxi to the place where he stabbed her 24 times.
Senka Striković (64) from Nikšić was killed in May 2019 by her son, a police officer, Rajan Striković and committed suicide.
Anastasia Lasmanova (30), a Ukrainian citizen and director of several companies, was killed with 16 stab wounds by her partner Arsenije Stanović (2018) in Kotor in May 22. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but the verdict is not final. Judge Katarina Padalica did not accept the accusation of murder in an insidious and cruel manner.
Sanja Radinović (52) was shot dead by his emotional partner Sreten Boljević (55) in Podgorica in March 2018, after which he committed suicide.
Durija Pojatić (78), a retired professor, was killed in October 2017 by her cousin Emir Sarvan (39). He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The judge of the High Court, Vesna Moštrokol, sentenced him to mandatory treatment and custody in a psychiatric hospital due to his reduced sanity at the time of the murder. According to the indictment, he killed his aunt in a cruel and premeditated manner by suffocating her by holding her nose and mouth closed with his fists.
Milica Nikolić (84) was killed by the husband of Rade Nikolić (89) in Kotor and then committed suicide in May 2017.
Duda Sokolaj (27) was killed with a knife in February 2017 by the unmarried husband of Nedžat Beriš and committed suicide.
* In the cases of Fata Beslimi (74) and Gordana Dašić (84), the acts were qualified as self-interested murder, while the murder of Galina Bernevek (52) occurred due to unresolved property relations. The sentence in the case of Beslimi was eight years and for Bernevek it was eight years and five months, and they are invalid. The sentence for the murder of Dašić is 40 years each for the two perpetrators.
Mitrić: The judges' sentences are uneven
Mitrić believes that a sentence of 12 years is too short and that a sentence of 40 years should be imposed in extremely difficult circumstances because, as he says, it is more severe than death.
"If a 20- or 30-year-old murderer goes to prison with a 40-year sentence - his life has passed in the most difficult circumstances. With a 40-year sentence, he would at least have something to hope for the rest of his life. With a XNUMX-year sentence, he is literally condemned to die in prison", assesses Mitrić.
Mitrić believes that some personal reasons can influence the sentencing.
"Following all these cases and our criminal and legal reality, i.e. who has been arrested in the last two or three years from the top of the judiciary, it seems that these were all, as the people would say, shady dealings when determining the amount of the sentence," Mitrić believes.
Montenegro abolished the death penalty in June 2002 by amending the criminal code, and one of the motives was admission to the Council of Europe.
Violence against women
What kind of scars are left after violence? How do families and victims of violence move on with lives forever marked by trauma?
Despite the Istanbul Convention and legal frameworks, gender-based violence is still ubiquitous in the countries of the Western Balkans.
U "Women's Shadows" find the stories of survivors of gender-based violence, as well as the testimonies of the families of women who are no longer there.
Find out how to report violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo i North Macedonia.
Bonus video:
