Velimir Odović, from the parish village of Zagrad in Nikšić, learned that his family, after 250 years of living in that village, does not have its own property, but that the house is located on a commune, a social property. At least, says Odović, the court and the Directorate for Real Estate claim.
It all started with a neighborly dispute in 2005 over whether sheep graze on private or community property.
Odović decided to "clean up" the matter and prove that the property was his, and not, as the neighbors claimed, a community property. And he succeeded in that. In March 2007, a judgment was passed that he is the "sole and exclusive owner" of the cadastral parcel, seventh class pasture, with an area of 1.613 square meters.
However, the Municipality of Nikšić, more precisely the Directorate for Real Estate, two years after the verdict, asked for the procedure to be repeated, because they found new evidence and attached documentation that they did not have in the first procedure, as they claimed and as stated in the decision on repeating the procedure , but later "appeared".
Farmable or not, it's mine
In the decision on repeating the procedure, it is stated that ten residents of Župa, who border the disputed plot, appealed to the Directorate, claiming that it is not the property of Velimir Odović.
The Directorate for Real Estate has attached documentation that the plot called Gola brda exists in both Zagrad and Dragovoljići, and that Odović's plot in Zagrad is a commune.
As evidence, they cited census cadastre blocks from "which show that the mentioned plot was not entered in the title deed from 1963", and the judge "admitted" that she made the previous decision "without establishing the facts and without evaluating the evidence that would point to the validity Odović's request to recognize his ownership over that plot.
Odović's house is on social property? (Photo: Svetlana Mandić)
The procedure was repeated and the decision was changed - Odović is not the owner of the mentioned plot and his house is located on the commune, so on January 26 of this year, at the request of the Property Directorate of the Municipality of Nikšić, and based on the court verdict, a decision was made to "change registration of rights to immovable property, so that the Odović Velimira pasture is registered as the property of the state of Montenegro".
Where should I go now if they demolish my house. No one can take away my father's, grandfather's, my great-grandfather's
"And in the cadastre from 2007, it says that the plot is mine. In the old cadastre, it said that it was seventh class, and in the new one, that it was uncultivable land. It doesn't matter whether it is arable or not, it is mine. Suddenly it turns out that the tax for years I'm paying for land that's not mine and to live on a commune. Now I'm waiting for the excavators to come and demolish the house that's been standing here for decades, because overnight I was left without land and without a house!"
How can I take the land when no one of mine has ever had anything in Dragovoljići
It also shows the first court verdict, but also the decision by which everything is taken away from him.
"Where should I go now if they demolish my house?" No one can take away my father's, grandfather's, my great-grandfather's. Well, this property has been owned by my family for 250 years. There is nothing more difficult for a person than when someone desecrates his graves and takes the land. Here, in the justice of God, they took what was mine and gave me someone else's. But... I won't give mine," said Velimir.
The bare hills in Dragovoljići are not mine
"I worked in the Biočki stan pit, and instead of enjoying my retirement now, I have to fight and prove that the land is mine and that the house was built on my family's estate. Sometimes they steal my land, sometimes they give it back to me, and now they give me land in Dragovoljići. How can I take the land when no one of mine has ever had anything in Dragovoljići. Now how can I go to the people there and tell them that I got someone's property overnight".
He says he doesn't know who to "fight" against, but he is sure, he says, that he will not allow them to take what belonged to his family for decades.
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