The officers of the border police act legally and professionally towards all clergy who cross the state border, they do not directly discriminate on the basis of religion, nor is there any intention to use the Law on Border Control to intimidate "clergy and monasticism, as well as numerous citizens at border crossings".
This is written in the answers from the Police Administration submitted to the Council for Citizen Control of Police Work, headed by Aleksandar Saša Zeković.
The police responded to the Council, after the metropolitan of the Metropolitanate of Montenegrin-coastal Amfilohija addressed that body and had objections to the work of the border police officers, especially after the litany and protests due to the adoption of the Law on Freedom of Religion...
The police informs the Council that on this occasion the procedure for determining the circumstances and the factual situation has been carried out and that it has been established that the officers of the border police, according to the Orthodox clergy and monks of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, as well as according to the Orthodox clergy and monks who come to Montenegro from other countries, acting in accordance with Article 31 and Article 32 of the Law on Border Control.
"Thus, the detention at the border crossing was carried out in accordance with the aforementioned legal provisions, and not because, as stated in the complaint, they 'belong to the Orthodox Church.' The official actions taken against clergymen belong to the regular actions of border checks, which did not require the implementation of persons and means of transport into special facilities or areas where visual contact with other passengers who were at the border crossing at that moment would be impossible. In this particular case, border checks were carried out in a manner that respects and protects the integrity of the persons subjected to border checks," the police said in its response.
They noted that according to Article 40 of the Law on Border Control, every person who intends to cross or has already crossed the state border is obliged to undergo a border check - which includes a check of persons, means of transport and things. "Clergy persons are not exempted by the Law from carrying out these actions, so they will be subjected to border checks just like other persons who cross the state border. In the attached report on the search of things/vehicle, the persons did not state any objection, which indicates that the police officers acted legally".
They announced that media reports about, as stated in the complaint - an 'unprecedented appearance', cannot be used as evidence in the process of determining the merits of the complaint.
"The police administration did not confirm the allegations of the complaint to the media 'Vijesti', but in response to the submitted questions it essentially stated: 'There are also special rules for border checks according to a certain category of persons, who are not subject to border checks, such as representatives of other state bodies and members of their delegations whose entry into Montenegro and exit from Montenegro was announced to the police through diplomatic channels. Religious persons do not fall into the category of passengers mentioned above and are not exempted from border checks. Border police officers who perform border checks at border crossings, as part of their regular duties and tasks and in accordance with the Law on Border Control, also inspected motor vehicles in which religious persons were located.''
"According to the above, we have come to the conclusion that border police officers act legally and professionally towards all clerics who cross the state border and that they do not directly discriminate on the basis of religion, nor is there any intention to intimidate 'clergy and monasticism, as well as numerous citizens at the border crossings'", it is written in the replies of the UP submitted to the Council.
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