There is no basis, but I can come up with one: Is there a legal possibility for new financial compensation for the Morinje concentration camp inmates?

There is no legal basis for paying new compensation to Croatian citizens who were detained in the former Morinje camp, and who have already claimed compensation for this before Montenegrin courts, although we leave open the possibility that this issue can be resolved by agreement between the governments in Podgorica and Zagreb.

A lawyer told "Vijesti" that Zdravko Begović, who has been representing some of these former camp inmates for years.

"Most of the proceedings have been legally concluded for all individual forms of compensation for non-pecuniary damage, so we are of the opinion that there is no legal possibility for the collection of any new non-pecuniary damage, unless the Government of Montenegro reaches a different agreement," he said.

However, a legal expert the editorial team spoke to, who wished to remain anonymous, claims that the government, if it so wishes, can create a legal basis for paying compensation. He says there are several ways to do this, one of which is to budget for the payment of compensation.

"Vijesti" announced in early September that Montenegro and Croatia were close to an agreement on resolving some of their mutual disputes, which, among other things, should include paying compensation to former prisoners from Morinje, not removing the memorial plaque on the site of that casemate, and changing the name of the city swimming pool in Kotor.

According to the newspaper's findings, resolving the issue of compensation should be formalized, on "paper", while other disputes should be resolved through a political, or "gentleman's" agreement between Podgorica and Zagreb.

There has been no official information about the amount of compensation so far, but there has been talk of a multi-million euro sum. Speculation is that it could be between 14 and 17 million euros.

Vlada Milojko Spajić (Europe Now Movement) has not responded to "Vijesti's" questions for days about who, when, and based on what data calculated that Montenegro could pay multi-million-dollar compensation to former concentration camp inmates from Morinje.

The executive branch did not respond with any information on the legal basis for the payment, since the state has already paid compensation in almost all cases.

"Vijesti" recently wrote that it is awaiting Zagreb's response to the draft document that will define the issue of compensation. The newspaper's source claims that Croatia is disputing some of the statements in the preamble of the document, which discuss the causes of the Morinje camp, or the nature of the war in the early 1990s, and is asking the Montenegrin side to make some of the formulations "tougher".

292 people from the Dubrovnik region were detained in the camp in inhumane conditions (the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro and Croatia were coordinating the lists of detainees because their documentation did not match). 169 prisoners testified about the inhumane treatment they were subjected to. Four people were sentenced to 12 years in prison for this war crime in court.

Former camp inmates initiated several civil proceedings before the Basic Court in Podgorica for compensation for damage following a final decision from April 2014, when they Ivo Gojnic, Spiro Lucic, Ivo Menzalin i Boro Gligić found guilty of a criminal offense - war crime against prisoners of war.

The lawsuits were then filed for violations of the Geneva Convention, namely for torture, inhuman treatment, and humiliation of camp inmates.

Supreme Court: 1,5 million euros paid

The Supreme Court of Montenegro told "Vijesti" that, according to court records, in the period from 2013 to 2025, based on final judgments, the victims of the war crime in the "Morinj" case were awarded a total amount of 1.537.760,20 euros in compensation for non-pecuniary damage.

They stated that all cases have been finalized, except for one, which is pending before the Basic Court in Podgorica.

"According to the information submitted to the Supreme Court by the Basic Courts in Podgorica, Nikšić, Cetinje and Kolašin, as well as the High Court in Podgorica and the High Court in Bijelo Polje, 107 cases brought before these courts based on claims by Croatian citizens for compensation for damage have been finally concluded. Based on the data collected, there is currently only one case pending before the Basic Court in Podgorica, and the next hearing is scheduled for October 7," the response reads.

Lawyer Begović told the newspaper that, of the civil proceedings for compensation for damage initiated before the Basic Court in Podgorica, the largest number were initiated by injured parties from Croatia, and a small number by citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We set the claims for different amounts and grounds depending on whether the plaintiffs were deprived of their liberty as prisoners of war or civilians, as well as on the number of days they spent in the camp and the intensity of the abuse. Therefore, those who were deprived of their liberty as members of the Croatian army were entitled to compensation only for the mental and physical pain suffered and future due to the violation of their personal rights, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment. Those who were deprived of their liberty as civilians, in addition to this basis, were entitled to compensation for the unjustified deprivation of liberty," the lawyer explained.

The representative of the former camp inmates stated that, when all proceedings were finally concluded in 2017, they also re-initiated proceedings for persons who had certain health problems after leaving the camp.

"The basis for these lawsuits is the mental anguish suffered and future due to the reduction in general life activities, the physical pain and fear suffered and future, as well as the existence of possible disfigurement. In these proceedings, different amounts of money were collected, depending on the severity of the health problems that the plaintiffs had as a result of their stay in the camp," said Begović, adding that "all cases were collected through coercive means."

"In connection with these proceedings, we have declared all regular and extraordinary legal remedies - among other things, constitutional appeals, as well as applications to the European Court of Human Rights. All of them, upon arriving in Montenegro and giving their statements, felt uneasy and were reminded of their stay in the camp. But we must say that the Montenegrin police welcomed them at the border crossing and were with them throughout their stay on the territory of Montenegro and guaranteed their safety, so that not a single Croatian citizen had any objections during their stay in Montenegro," Begović emphasized.

Different amounts for trauma

Final judgments paid out various amounts for all specific categories of war trauma, which former camp inmates presented in their lawsuits, and which they supported with evidence and valid medical documentation.

One of the decisions of the Higher Court in Podgorica, which was issued at the end of February this year, shows that the amount of the claim amounted to 36.667 euros, and that it was ruled that the former prisoner from Dubrovnik should be paid 22.000 euros.

The amount awarded was 12.000 euros for past and future mental pain and reduced life activity, 6.000 euros for past and future physical pain, 3.000 euros for fear suffered, and 1.000 euros for disfigurement.

The verdict rejected part of the claim for payment of an additional 14.667 euros to the plaintiff, who was transferred from the Bileća camp to the Morinj camp in April 1992. The former camp inmate claimed that during his stay in Morinj, he was "hit daily with military boots, sandbags and batons"...

This former prisoner, through another final judgment of the Basic Court, also achieved the right to compensation for non-pecuniary damage of 35.000 euros based on mental anguish suffered due to unfounded deprivation of liberty, as well as 17.500 euros based on physical and mental anguish suffered due to violation of personal rights, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment...

Lawyer Begović claims that the awarded compensation amounts "were not fair."

"Therefore, we have used all regular and extraordinary legal means to increase the amount of damages awarded," he added.

A few years ago, the Human Rights Action published a publication stating that the amounts of compensation awarded by the Supreme Court for one day of unjustified deprivation of liberty in the Morinj camp varied - without explanation. The publication by the NGO also states that the amounts of compensation awarded in final judgments for unjustified deprivation of liberty remained significantly uneven even after the Supreme Court's judgments on review, even though that court is obliged to ensure uniform application of the law.