Mitrović invited Spajić and Vujović to return the stećaks from Cetinje to Pljevlja: He claims that five were stolen

He claims that in 2012, a total of five centuries-old stećaks were "stolen"...

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Stećci allegedly taken to Cetinje, Photo: NGO Breznica
Stećci allegedly taken to Cetinje, Photo: NGO Breznica
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Breznica NGO President Milorad Mitrović called on Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and Minister of Culture Tamara Vujović to take appropriate measures and return to Pljevlja the stećaks, which the National Museum of Montenegro took from the villages around Pljevlja in 2012. The stećci are displayed in the courtyard of Biljarda in Cetinje.

"The question is who is behind this and who wants to destroy and erase the famous traces of history from these areas, or who is creating a new - false history of Montenegro?" On September 25, 2012, the National Museum of Montenegro took stećaks from a village in the vicinity of Pljevlja, after an incursion with a crane and a truck, and from the village cemetery, which were taken to Cetinje and displayed in the courtyard of Biljarda," Mitrović said.

He claims that a total of five centuries-old stećaks were "stolen" - two from the villages of Mataruga and Marina Šume, and one from Potkrajac.

"No one mentions this criminal act in all its forms and characteristics anymore. The authorities who spoke about this event stated that everything was carried out in accordance with the current law? And would the same competent authorities react if we, for example, came and took some exhibit from the Duklja site, or some tombstone, say from Lovcen, and took it to Pljevlja at night, as the National Museum of Montenegro did? We are sure that they would have been characterized as thieves and barbarians, a revolution would have broken out because of our vandalism... Criminal charges would not have bypassed us. All this is extremely inappropriate and is the embodiment of the insolence and arbitrariness of cultural institutions at work, but this is not the first time," Mitrović said.

Throughout history, there have been no stećaks in Cetinje: Mitrović
Throughout history, there have been no stećaks in Cetinje: Mitrovićphoto: Private archive

He reminds that the director of the National Museum at the time, Pavle Pejović, stated that there was no need to contact the local administration when removing the monument, because that is the responsibility of the state.

"Then why is there a local administration that doesn't ask anything, not even about the very important and very old, cultural and historical monuments that are located on its territory? Wouldn't it be best if all of this remained in its place, to welcome visitors and remind us in the right location and to mark a period of time, which is related to the civilization that passed through these spaces of ours and left such cultural values ​​behind. And for a tourist who is interested in such monuments, he will be more attracted to see them in the original location where they were created and preserved to this day, than in some artificial location, which is in the interest of individuals," Mitrović pointed out.

He also asks why stećci are taken to Cetinje, "where throughout history, they have never been".

"For a person to simply not believe that something like this could have occurred to someone, or that something like this could happen at all." If the location of valuable cultural monuments is changed under the pretext of protection or restoration of cultural and historical monuments, which is the responsibility of the state, this can be done at the original location. This is another in a series of moves by the government, which, over coal, electricity, forests, also puts historical monuments on the wallpaper. We need it as much as they do. And we know how and can create a tourist site in the real and natural location of those same stećaks, but individuals do not even allow the north to start living with these small things".

He also claims that this is not the first time that graves have been robbed in this way and tombstones of earlier civilizations from these areas have been appropriated.

"Back in 1878, after the Berlin Congress, until 1908, when Austria-Hungary withdrew from the area of ​​the Pljeval region, that is, in a period of 30 years, it took away numerous and extremely valuable stećaks, which are still in front of the National Museum in Sarajevo today. Today, they are presented there as cultural and historical monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e. the city of Sarajevo. No one has ever asked for them to return to the community to which they belong and to the community from which they were plundered and taken away. The question arises as to who is behind this and who wants to destroy and erase the famous traces of history from these areas, or who is creating a new - false history of Montenegro", said Mitrović.

He points out that the decision-makers who represent the state, primarily its president and prime minister, are still silent about it.

"Many historians are also silent. I wonder, and I also ask all the representatives of the executive, judicial and legislative authorities, I also ask the members of the Montenegrin Parliament, why none of them have ever been "stoned" about this incredible and outrageous criminal act. Is the silence over such a hitherto unrecorded act tacit and obvious support for the vandalism and barbaric behavior of arbitrary makers of such criminal decisions? We can't help but wonder: is this example an indicator of the famous Montenegrin character, heroism and honesty that we constantly adorn ourselves with and that we constantly highlight. Which ones did we sing in epic songs, but also in a whole stanza of our hymn? Seen from the point of view of a neutral observer like ourselves, it is easy to conclude what is right and whether this behavior of people in power, and those who are only silent observers of such unreasonable moves, is justified."

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