The Center for Women's Rights (CŽP) asked the Government to hold a thematic session where the "key shortcomings of the existing system of prevention and protection against violence" and concrete proposals for improving the situation would be presented.
That NGO held a protest in front of the Government building, after the verdict of the High Court in Podgorica in the case of Baranka Zumrita Nerda (27). This week, the Higher Court sentenced Dalibor Nikolić to 12 years in prison for the criminal offense of domestic violence, while the prosecution sought a sentence for the serious murder of Nerda, his wife, in January 2022.
The executive director of CŽP, Maja Raičević, said that they are protesting today because they did not receive an answer to their earlier demands that the government reform the system that "does not protect victims of violence". "We are not here because of individual judgments, because there is a system that does not value and protect women's lives. We are here precisely because we do not want justice to be taken into our own hands, but to demand that the state take responsibility and reform a system that is clearly not working." , she said.
"We ask the Government to establish a national body for the coordination and implementation of policies and measures to prevent and combat all forms of violence included in the Istanbul Convention, which will place the rights and best interests of victims at the center of all measures and which will rely on the professional experience of specialist women's NGOs organization. We ask that the Government strengthen the authority of the previously established operational team for violence against women and domestic violence, as an independent mechanism for monitoring and evaluating the work of all competent institutions, which are included in the system of combating violence, with the aim of effective protection of victims, ending the impunity of officials who do not perform their duties in cases of domestic violence and building trust in the work of state institutions. We ask the Government to ensure continuous supervision of cases and an effective accountability system, within all institutions involved in the system of combating violence. We also ask the Government to ensure that complete work on amendments to the Law on the Protection of Domestic Violence and Criminal Legislation, and consider ways to further improve it with measures against femicide, digital violence and gender-based hate speech, and to integrate the recommendations of Grevio and women's NGOs, and to the Assembly for final adoption", it was ordered at the protest.
The victim's sister said she would be happy if the court's decision was changed. "But our tears that we shed, no decision will change, we are here for other people, so please, raise your voice for your mothers and sisters," she said.
"We won't tweet, nor the concern of official institutions over the woman's broken body. We won't story nor official announcements. We will not condone, silence, or this kind of silence. We will not raise awareness of the words 'justice', 'future', 'patriotism', and especially not 'equality' - gender, class, or essential, wrapped in protocol phrases. We don't want a rib, a collarbone, a nose, an eye or a woman less. We wish you a good fracture of the patriarchy," said actress Jelena Đukić.
Finally, it was announced that the protest will be organized again if the Government does not adopt the demands.
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