The competent state authorities are not currently looking for the "fugitive" monument to the notorious Chetnik commander Pavlo Đurišić, because the Berane Basic Court did not receive a new request from the local prosecutor's office for that job.
"Vijesti" was told by the court yesterday that they cannot independently reopen the proceedings to temporarily seize the disputed statue. from the Đurđevi stupovi Monastery, but that they can decide on this if the prosecution submits a new such request to them.
This follows from the response of the president of the Berane Basic Court. Ivan Došljak to the editorial staff's question regarding whether that institution will decide again on the temporary removal of the Đurišić monument, if it wants to - when, and if it doesn't - why.
"According to data from the court records and the Judicial Information System from October 2, 2025 until today (yesterday), the Basic Court in Berane has not received a new proposal from the prosecution regarding the temporary seizure of the monument," Došljak told the editorial office.
The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Berane did not respond to "Vijesti" whether they would submit a new proposal for the temporary seizure of the statue of Đurišić.
On October 1, Berane police officers acted on a court decision to seize the disputed monument from the Đurđevi stupovi Monastery, but they did not find it that day in the part of the premises in the monastery complex that they searched.
"On October 1, 2025, the Basic Court in Berane issued a decision to temporarily seize the object, the memorial to Pavle Đurišić, from the head of the Đurđevi Stupovi Monastery, acting on the proposal of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Berane, which in its act indicated exactly where the monument is located - in the dormitory of the Đurđevi Stupovi Monastery and from whom it is being seized - from the head of the Monastery," Došljak reminded.
Based on that proposal, the court, as explained by the president of that institution, issued a decision and ordered the temporary seizure of the statue. He added that the decision was immediately submitted for execution to the Police Directorate, the Regional Security Center "North" and the Berane Security Department.
"On October 2, 2025, the Basic Court in Berane was informed by the Police Directorate, the Regional Security Center "North" and the Berane Security Department that the dormitory had been inspected, but that the monument with the image of Pavle Đurišić had not been found. The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Berane was immediately informed of this and the police letters were forwarded to the prosecutor's office," Došljak told "Vijesti".
The newspaper reported on October 1 that the police were welcomed by the abbot of the monastery at the Đurđevi Stupovi Monastery. Danilo Trpcevski with the clergy and allowed police officers to inspect the dormitory of the facility, but they did not find a monument to Đurišić there.
"The abbot contacted the metropolitan (of Budimljan-Niksic) by phone." The method "And he told the police that there were rooms in the monastery that only he had the key to," said a senior police officer familiar with the events in Berane.
Metodije allegedly told the police that the decision should be addressed to the head of the monastery, namely him, and not to the abbot, the head of the dormitory, because only he (Metodije) has access to some of the rooms.
"The police immediately informed the court about the new situation, and are awaiting its reaction," the source said at the time.
The President of the Berane Court explained that the procedure for the temporary seizure of objects can be initiated only at the proposal of the state prosecutor, which the court decides on by decision, in accordance with Article 85 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
This article of the CPC specifies, among other things, that “objects that, according to the Criminal Code, must be seized or may serve as evidence in criminal proceedings” shall, upon the proposal of the state prosecutor and by a court decision, be temporarily seized and handed over to the court for safekeeping or their safekeeping shall be ensured in some other way. It is also stated that the decision on the temporary seizure of objects shall contain the name of the court issuing the decision and the legal basis for the temporary seizure of objects.
A bronze statue of the Chetnik commander has been in the monastery's dormitory since mid-August. It was moved there from the church in Gornji Zaostar, where it was moved after being removed from its pedestal in that Berane village, where it was discovered on August 8.
The monument to Đurišić was unveiled by Metodije, and the statue was removed the same day in the afternoon. The illegal monument was then removed by locals after, as they claimed, “a prior agreement with the police”. Đurišić’s statue was then transferred to the Church of St. Mother Paraskeva, and the competent inspection, with the assistance of the police, subsequently demolished the pedestal of the monument.
The unveiling of the monument caused a stormy reaction in the public, especially after the attacks on the teams of "Vijesti" and "Pobjeda", which tried to record the removal of the statue of Đurišić by the residents of Gornji Zaostar.
Đurišić was the supreme Chetnik leader in 1941. Dragoljub Draza Mihailovic appointed one of the commanders of the Chetnik forces in Montenegro. In the following months, according to numerous historical sources, Đurišić's intensive collaboration with the Italian and then German occupiers began, during which his Chetniks repeatedly carried out massacres of the civilian population.
In Gornji Zaostr, a pedestal for a monument to Đurišić was erected in 2002, and a memorial complex was erected in 2013. However, both were demolished.
The Law on Memorials stipulates the prevention of the erection of monuments for events that mark the loss of freedom or independence of Montenegro, symbolize or signify cooperation with the occupier, its ally or helper, as well as for persons who were collaborators of the occupier, its ally or helper, who represented fascist, chauvinist or Nazi ideas or ideologies, who were convicted of a crime against humanity or other goods protected by international law or who were declared war criminals...
According to this regulation, monuments are erected in accordance with the erection program, which is adopted by the municipal assembly, the capital city and the royal capital, with the prior consent of the state administration body responsible for cultural affairs (Ministry).
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