If there are testimonies about "Lora", we cannot say that this prison did not exist, nor ignore the testimonies about Montenegrin citizens who were captured and killed there.
This was told to "Vijesti" yesterday by the Prime Minister's Office. Milojko Spajić, answering the question: how do they view the position of the Croatian Foreign Minister? Gordana Grlić Radman - that "there is no 'Lora camp' and there never was", that it is not an open issue between Zagreb and Podgorica, but "a narrative that aims to equate aggressor and victim", and that "everything about the events in the Lora prison has been processed and adjudicated". "Vijesti" also asked them whether they would take any action regarding his assessments, if so - what, and if not - why.
The Prime Minister's Office states that good neighborly relations are among the priorities of the executive branch, "both for the prosperity of the region and for the adoption of the fundamental values of the European Union." In this regard, they say, they believe it is extremely important to fully investigate war crimes, "which, ultimately, the rule of law obliges us to do."
"Montenegro wants justice for all victims and is ready to persevere to the end in prosecuting crimes and compensating victims, in accordance with international law," they told the newspaper.
Spajić's office reminds that war crimes do not become statute-barred, that is, that "due to their specificity, they transcend the time in which the participants speak about them."
"It is clear that if there are testimonies about 'Lora', we cannot say that the prison did not exist, nor ignore the testimonies about Montenegrin citizens who were imprisoned and killed there, and these cases were never processed. Montenegro expects the competent institutions to resolve these issues in mutual cooperation. In this regard, we encourage the Croatian and our state prosecutor's offices to cooperate even closer so that all perpetrators of criminal acts are processed and justice is served for all," they said.
In an interview with "Vijesti", published the day before yesterday, Grlić Radman denied that the Split "Lora" camp existed, in which 14 members of the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) from the so-called Nikšić-Šavnik group died. He stated that "there is no and never was any 'Lora camp'", that it is not an open question, but "a narrative that aims to equate aggressor and victim".
"Everything about the events in the 'Lora' prison has been processed and adjudicated, and is in the domain of judicial proceedings, which is neither possible nor necessary to comment on," said Grlić Radman, in response to additional questions from the newspaper - what is "Lora" if not a camp, and how shedding light on the suffering of people who were prisoners of war - who, in accordance with international humanitarian law, deserved protection from torture and killing - can be "a narrative that aims to equate aggressors and victims."
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According to the Montenegrin Association of War Veterans, since 1990, 14 members of the former JNA from the so-called Nikšić-Šavnik group, who were captured on the Herzegovina battlefield in 1992, have been killed in "Lora". The Split County State Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into the murder of a group of prisoners, members of the aforementioned group, at the end of 2011, but the case has not yet reached a conclusion in court. The Montenegrin State Prosecutor's Office handed over extensive documentation related to the case to Croatia more than a decade ago.
A group of NGOs from Montenegro and Croatia protested the day before yesterday against the statements of Grlić Radman, calling them incorrect. They said that it is true that final judgments have established that members of the 72nd Military Police Battalion of the Croatian Army humiliated, mentally and physically abused, tortured and corporal punished civilians and prisoners of war brought without any legal basis, to the point of death of some of them, but that not all crimes committed in "Lora" have been investigated or adjudicated.
"We warn of the delayed proceedings against Montenegrin prisoners of war, despite the existence of testimony that crimes against them occurred," they said, adding that they regret that Grlić Radman, "instead of encouraging the continuation of the prosecution of crimes," is "trying to influence the work of the competent institutions" with his statement.
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