Special attention in the conversation between the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro Mirsad Nurković and the civic activist and member of the Civic Initiative (GI) "21.maj" Aleksandar Saša Zeković was dedicated to the need for a comprehensive historical and institutional clarification and memorialization of the post-war mass murder of Albanian and Bosniak recruits from Kosovo in Bar, Nurković's office announced today.
The statement states that Nurković received Zeković today and that they discussed the experiences and challenges of human rights and memory policies in practice, including attempts at revisionism.
"Vice President Nurković highlighted the key facts of the Bosniak anti-fascist path that historically, culturally and in terms of values confirm the foundation and commitment of the Bosniak people to anti-fascism. This is not a declarative, but - Nurković emphasized - a substantive approach and commitment," the statement said.
Nurković's office added that they have jointly recognized and condemned examples of the disguise of fascism in contemporary Montenegro, which is why, as they said, it is important to strengthen and modernize public policies that will include young people in the practice of anti-fascist remembrance.
"The interlocutors are of the opinion that this contributes to more successful and decisive efforts against the rehabilitation of chauvinistic, nationalistic and big-state movements and policies and the denial of war crimes and genocide. Special attention in the conversation was paid to the need for a comprehensive historical and institutional clarification and memorialization of the post-war mass murder of Albanian and Bosniak recruits from Kosovo in Bar. Due to the massacre in Bar, a criminal report, with amendments, was filed with the Special State Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro for a post-war crime," the statement said.
The statement also states that the first commemoration organized this year, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Bar massacre, by the Albanian National Council and the Bosniak Council in Montenegro, was jointly supported.
"It was assessed that historiography, state institutions and the contemporary concept of human rights must not deny, ignore or justify any violence in Montenegro's modern past that was motivated ideologically, class-wise, ethnically, religiously or in other ways," the statement reads.
Nurković, as stated, appeals to members of the Council for Proposing Names of Settlements, Streets and Squares and councilors of the Bar Municipal Assembly to support the initiative to name one of the streets in the territory of this municipality "Street of the Victims of the Bar Massacre".
"This will be decided in the coming days. Accepting the initiative would be in line with the recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. During the meeting, the interlocutors had an interesting and useful discussion, jointly pointing out the civilizational need to identify the locations of war and post-war secret graves in Montenegro and the posthumous restoration of dignity to innocent civilian victims of war and post-war, revolutionary violence. Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Mirsad Nurković praised the activities of the Montenegrin Committee of Lawyers for the Protection of Human Rights and human rights activist Aleksandar Saša Zeković, which relate to the processing and building of a multi-layered memory of the post-war crime in Bar," Nurković's office said in a statement.
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