The Municipality of Kotor has never addressed the Minister of Defense. Dragan Krapović (Democrats) with a request to grant her access to the former military complex in Morinje, in order to remove the illegally placed memorial plaque at the site of the camp that existed there.
This follows from the answer given to "Vijesti" by Krapović's department yesterday, answering the questions whether it is true that the Ministry did not grant permission to access the plaque protected by the Army of Montenegro (AVCG), if so - why, when did that department last receive such a request, and whether, if it receives it again, it will grant permission to remove the plaque.
"The Municipality of Kotor has repeatedly addressed the then Minister of Defense. The last request was sent on July 4, 2023. So, the last time during the mandate of the previous Government. We would like to remind you of the fact that the Armed Forces of Montenegro secures the Morinj military facility in accordance with its jurisdiction, and not the memorial plaque located inside it," the Ministry told the editorial staff.
In July 2023, the department was coordinated by the then Minister of Internal Affairs. Filip Adzic (Civil Movement URA).
The Secretariat for Culture, Sports and Social Activities of the Municipality of Kotor told "Vijesti" the day before yesterday that it has not yet removed the sign at the site of the former camp because, as they claim, they have not received written permission from the Ministry to access the location, which is protected by the Armed Forces of Montenegro. They stated that with the assistance of the local Municipal Police, the Inspection Service and the engagement of the executive service of the Kotor Municipal Authority, they have organized "administrative execution of the decision to remove the sign" four times.
"For each of the above-mentioned executions, written approval from the Ministry of Defense was first requested for access to a location protected by the Army of Montenegro, but this approval was never provided to us," they claim.
The Ministry told the newspaper yesterday that Krapović has repeatedly publicly emphasized that he will not interfere in the work of competent authorities and services, nor will the department he heads prevent state bodies from doing their job, "in accordance with the laws of Montenegro."
"In support of the above, we would like to remind you that the Special State Prosecutor's Office has formed a case on this matter, and that the Ministry of Defense submitted all necessary documentation back in February last year," they said.
The plaque in Morinj was unveiled in early October 2022 by the then Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense. Ranko Krivokapic i Rasko Konjević (both from the Social Democratic Party) with their Croatian colleagues Gordan Grlić Radman (head of Croatian diplomacy) and Tom Medved (Minister of Croatian Veterans), in memory of the fact that in the early 1990s, the so-called Collection Center for prisoners of war from the Dubrovnik battlefield operated in Morinje for several months.
The plaque was placed outside the procedure stipulated by the Law on Memorials, i.e. without a decision of the Government and the consent of the Municipality of Kotor. Therefore, in mid-October 2022, the former Administration for Inspection Affairs issued a decision to remove the plaque and obliged the Municipality of Kotor to implement it. However, the removal was repeatedly prevented by members of the Armed Forces of Montenegro, on the orders of the former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Montenegro Zoran Lazarevic.
The Kotor Secretariat said the day before yesterday that, since the fourth attempt at "administrative enforcement" ended unsuccessfully and since they received the same response from the soldiers in Morinj that they could not be allowed to the location without written approval from the Ministry, they informed the inspector for cultural heritage about everything, "with a request to suspend all further actions towards the Municipality of Kotor regarding the removal of the illegally erected memorial."
"Vijesti" is still awaiting answers from the Ministry of Culture and Media, under whose jurisdiction the inspector is, on whether they have accepted the Secretariat's request and when the plaque will be removed.
According to the regulations, if an inspector goes to the field and orders the removal of a memorial, the local government must act on that order immediately, and no later than within three days. If the order is not carried out within the stipulated time, the inspector goes to the field again and draws up a report, which the first person of the municipality must declare. If the monument is not removed even after that, the state will do it at the expense of the local government.
In the town of Morinj, in Kotor, from October 3, 1991 to August 18, 1992, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) organized the so-called Center for the Reception of Prisoners from Croatia, known as the "Morinj Camp", where 292 people from the Dubrovnik region were detained in inhumane conditions (the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro and Croatia were coordinating the lists of detainees because their documentation on this did not match). 169 prisoners testified about the inhumane treatment they were subjected to.
For this war crime, four people were sentenced to 12 years in prison in court. The Special Prosecutor's Office announced in early February that, by order of the Chief Special Prosecutor, Vladimir Novović Criminal cases were reopened regarding, among other things, war crimes in Morinje.
The plaque, according to part of the Montenegrin public, does not properly treat the historical circumstances when Montenegro was a participant in the aggression against Croatia in the area of Konavle and Dubrovnik. Minister Krapović said in January last year that the plaque should be replaced with another one, “with adequate text”. It mentions the “Greater Serbian aggression against Croatia”, and reads: “We remember the crimes committed to disgrace the name and spirit of Montenegro. We express regret for all the suffering that the prisoners endured. May it never happen again”.
This monument was erected, as the inspector for the protection of cultural property who issued the order for its removal noted, without documentation proving that the plaque in question is included in the Memorial Program adopted by the Kotor Municipal Assembly, and that there is no government consent because it concerns an event for which the prescribed 50 years have not passed since its occurrence.
The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Kotor dismissed the criminal charges against Krivokapić and Konjević for erecting the plaque in August 2023. The charges against them were filed with the Special Prosecutor's Office by the then Directorate for Inspection Affairs on suspicion that they had committed a criminal offense related to the violation and unauthorized erection of a memorial.
The head of Croatian diplomacy told "Vijesti" in March that for Zagreb, the plaque in Morinje is "a statement of the consciousness of the people of Montenegro" and the starting point of new relations after the change of government in Montenegro in 2020.
"... And it, just as it is, represents a place of reverence and remembrance for us. Any interference with it would be the destruction of the relations built between our countries," said Grlić Radman at the time.
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