Decision on Đurišić within the legal deadline: Basic Court in Berane receives proposal to seize monument

The Basic Court in Berane will issue a decision on the confiscation of the memorial within the legal deadline. Pavlo Đurišić, which is located in the dormitory of the Đurđevi stupovi monastery.

This was told to "Vijesti" by a spokeswoman for the Berane Basic Court. Ana Radunović.

She confirmed that on October 8, the court was submitted a proposal from the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Berane to seize the monument to Đurišić - a Chetnik commander and war criminal.

"The proposal has been submitted to the competent judge for action." Dubravka Popovic"The decision on the proposal will be made within the legal deadline," said Radunović.

President of the Berane Court Ivan Došljak clarified on Tuesday that the procedure for the temporary seizure of objects can be initiated exclusively 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 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.

If the court orders the confiscation of the monument to the notorious Chetnik commander, the police will carry out that task.

On October 1, police attempted to seize the statue, following a court ruling issued that day at the prosecutor's request, but did not find it where prosecutors claimed it was located - in the dormitory of the Berane Monastery's Đurđevi stupovi. The police informed the court a day later, which then wrote to the prosecutor's office.

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 8th.

The monument to Đurišić was unveiled by the Metropolitan of Budimlje-Niksić Methods, and the statue was removed the same day in the afternoon. The illegal monument was then removed by locals, according to what they claimed was “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 monument’s pedestal.

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.