GI May 21: Belvedere demonstrations remain a warning to all those who would make senseless and humiliate the integrity of Montenegro

The Belvedere demonstrations remain a warning to all those who would make the integrity of Montenegro meaningless and humiliated, the Civic Initiative "21 May" announced, which, as they said, reverently recalls September 5, 2021 and the Belvedere demonstrations against the "violent enthronement of Serbian Metropolitan Joanikije in the Cetinje Monastery."

"Message from Belvedere It is still strong today and it reads: 'We do not agree to the denial of Montenegrin identity, Greater Serbian interventionism, state subordination, party manipulation and the violation of human and civil rights'. The then clerical-nationalist government, similar to the one from 1936, opted to devalue the right to freedom of assembly and the right to freedom of expression," the citizens' initiative assessed.

Free citizens who were on the front lines of the demonstrations neither wanted to be subject to manipulation by the former kleptocratic DPS regime, nor did they accept to bow down to the new regime's Belgrade puppets and Greater Serbia priests who were already demonstrating the policy of devastation of national resources and a new kleptocratic momentum, GI 21. maj said.

"We remind the public that thanks to the dedicated work of the members of GI '21 May', numerous citizens were provided with legal assistance during and after the Belvedere demonstrations. Dozens of criminal reports and complaints filed with the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, the Council for Citizens' Control of Police Work and the State Prosecutor's Office were confirmed through opinions and court decisions that found that police powers had been exceeded," the statement concludes.