Marko Kovačević convicted of hate speech at the commemoration of the Battle of Grahovac, the Higher Court fined him 2.000 euros

The Higher Misdemeanor Court in Podgorica accepted the appeal of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica against the decision of the Misdemeanor Court in Podgorica, which acquitted the Mayor of the Municipality of Nikšić Marko Kovačević of guilt, found him guilty of hate speech and fined him 2.000 euros.

The Higher Court recalled that after conducting the procedure, the Higher State Prosecutor's Office assessed that in Kovačević's speech, held on June 13, 2024, during the commemoration of the Battle of Grahovac, there were no elements of the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred, but that the aforementioned actions had the characteristics of a misdemeanor, which is why appropriate proceedings were initiated before the competent court.

The decision of the Higher Court for Minor Offences in Podgorica fully accepted the appeal of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, and the first-instance decision was modified in accordance with the established facts and legal qualification, the statement concludes.

In June 2024, at Grahovac, at the commemoration of the 166th anniversary of the historic battle, Kovačević said, among other things, that "those who do not want to be like brothers, but rather resemble Turks, will be treated like Turks," addressing, as he put it, "the former rulers and their henchmen."

In his speech, Kovačević said that years before that, "some of the former rulers and their cronies" asked - "what does Spasovdan have to do with the Battle of Grahovac?"

"You can imagine how much they have to do with those people who defeated the Turks on the Day of Salvation... And that should always be before your eyes, that they are unknown, that the path to the truth is simply not open to them and that then they simply resemble strangers more than themselves... We will work to ensure that they too remember our old glory, that they too remember our ancestors, that they too offer prayers to God with us... We will be patient, we will always wait with an open heart and open arms with the question - are we brothers? And if someone does not want us to be brothers, if someone wants to resemble the Turks more, then, by God, in the future we will treat them the same way we treat the Turks," he said.

His messages were strongly condemned by political parties, non-governmental organizations, as well as Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović.

After these reactions, Kovačević wrote on the social network Facebook that he did not mention Montenegrins or any other people in Montenegro in a negative context in his speech.

"I mentioned the Turks in the context of the past and the struggle that our ancestors waged primarily to defend their homelands and free themselves from the yoke of that time, and not in the context of today's Turks and relations with Turkey," he added.

He then claimed that the "dark centers of power" again "had to spend several days constructing the story, preparing the context to suit them, and starting a media frenzy and a hunt."

"In all of this, the easiest thing to do is choose someone who has long been the target of such centers of power, and then you don't have to take additional care about the truth, the context, the event being commemorated...", he said.

Kovačević then stated that the fact that he, as he states, emphasized the need for reconciliation and patience for that reconciliation to be achieved is being deliberately omitted or declared unimportant in all media.

"... With an open heart and a desire to be brothers, but with a clear indication that we will continue to be ready to defend our sacred places from those who have already tried to take them away," he concluded.

Kovačević said in September last year that he had denied guilt during a hearing at the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica.