A protest in support of the historian and professor of the Faculty of Montenegrin Language and Literature (FCJK) Boban Batrićević was held today in front of the Court for Misdemeanors in Podgorica, where his trial begins due to the views he expressed in the column.
After the hearing, Batrićević said that "there is no god father who will force us to keep quiet." The trial was postponed until March 26.
"I want to say that this trial will continue, it is not over, I presented my defense, however, it seems that this defense could not be understood, either their vocabulary was difficult or they had a problem with spelling," Batrićević said.
He assessed that pressure is also being exerted on FCJK.
"We are awaiting re-accreditation in a few months, which will be led by Goran Danilović. This is exactly how a captive state and system pressure people who criticize," said Batrićević.
Lawyer Nikola Martinović said that Batrićević presented a defense that was too long, so they asked for a deadline to read it in order to understand it.
Batrićević entered the court building around nine o'clock, and the protest was attended by representatives of several non-governmental organizations, FCJK professors, as well as representatives of the Democratic Party of Socialists, the Social Democratic Party, and the Social Democrats, TV News reported.
"Progress and freedom are measured by the standards of the SPC, which shapes our state organs," said the president of the Montenegrin Conservative Party, Boris Lalović.
He said that today it is not only Batrićević or Montenegro that is being defended, but that the "first principle of man" - freedom of speech - is being defended. He pointed out that Batićević is not a member of their party, and that they do not know him, but that they understand him and support his right to freedom of speech.
"The intellectual wing of our homeland has a duty to point out all the irregularities that have become our reality," said Sonja Mugoša, president of the Podgorica committee of the Montenegrin Conservative Party, adding that she believes that the prosecutor made the decision "to please the authorities."
Representatives of that party said that they are allegedly the organizers of today's protest.
Civic activist and journalist Tanja Pavićević addressed the media and said that the meeting was misused.
"This is a gathering of support, no party organized the gathering, this is an abuse, it is absolutely a gathering of free citizens. Boban Batrićević was processed very quickly, because he extracted quotes that he analyzed, it is not even a column, but can be classified as a scientific work ", she said.
Those gathered carried banners: "Fascism is free, while anti-fascism is in court", "First they came for the columnists", "We will entertain you about misery", "What about Kačavenda". "The only church that lights up is the one under the museum spotlights", "Boban did not bless the tanks, but the SPC", "Freedom of speech and the church do not go in the same sentence"...
Members of the police were also in front of the court.
Several media and NGOs requested from the Court for Misdemeanors in Podgorica that the trial of Batrićević be held in a courtroom large enough to accommodate all interested parties. The Court for Misdemeanors, as reported by the media, responded that they work in conditions of reduced spatial capacity, that the offices where judges judge are small, and that there is a possibility of the presence of one media representative.
The criminal complaint against Batrićević was filed by lawyer Dejan Dragović, accusing him of inciting national, racial and religious hatred.
The Higher State Prosecutor's Office previously informed "Vijesti" that they had requested that misdemeanor proceedings be initiated against Batrićević, after establishing that there were no elements of the reported criminal act.
According to the media, the petition in support of Batrićević was signed by more than 2.000 citizens.
The director of the non-governmental organization Action for Human Rights (HRA), Tea Gorjanc Prelevic, said that they had not received a response to the appeal addressed to the Acting Supreme State Prosecutor Tatjana Begović, in which HRA, together with 21 other NGOs, demanded that the State Prosecutor's Office urgently abandon the misdemeanor prosecution of Batrićević. .
In the column titled "Trokanje po Metodoliju i Đaonikija", published on the Antena M portal on August 11 last year, Batrićević analyzes the political scene and, among other things, states:
"Popes of the Church of Serbia in Montenegro do not preach the faith of Christ, preach Serbian nationalism, indoctrinate, spread hatred and xenophobia. Therefore, they are not priests and monks, they are torokusha and preachers of hatred".
In the text, Batrićević cited quotes from the speeches of Metropolitan Joaniki of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Bishop Metodije Ostojić.
In the last paragraph, Batrićević writes, among other things:
"From what has been offered, it is clear that the priests of the Church of Serbia have only one mission - to pollute Montenegro, to write down its history and territory, to send disturbing messages to all non-Serbs of this country...".
Batrićević, among other things, in the question in the column "do they call for peace", gives quotes from Methodius as answers:
"Russia is the hope for the entire freedom-loving world ... In holy Russia there is hope for the salvation of not only the Orthodox peoples, but the whole of Europe and the world."
And Joanikija: "It is a big deal that this right is denied not only to me, but also to the church and the Orthodox people in Montenegro from some groups that appear like mushrooms after the rain. But we know that mushrooms don't last long and it will disappear".
Bonus video:
