On the eve of the holiday, on April 30, the Council for Proposing Names of Settlements, Streets and Squares of the Capital City sent the proposal of a Democratic councilor to name one of the streets in Podgorica after Pavlo Bulatović, the War Minister of the Interior and Defense, to the Ministry of Culture and Media for a statement. whether the proposal meets the criteria for a prominent person prescribed by the Law on Monuments.
This was announced by three non-governmental organizations - Action for Human Rights (HRA), the Center for Civic Education (CGO) and the Center for Women's and Peace Education (ANIMA), saying that they believe that this decision of the Council is "another indicator of an unacceptable calculation with war policies " in the nineties of the last century.
They said that they expect the Ministry of Culture and Media to "put an end to this issue, because there are no legal conditions for a street in Podgorica to be named after Bulatović".
They say that in order to join the European Union, Montenegro must more decisively demonstrate its ability to contribute to sustainable peace in the region, "and this approach is harmful to Montenegrin society and meaningful regional cooperation."
"Regarding this issue, the non-governmental organizations HRA, CGO and ANIMA also wrote to Aleksa Bečić, the leader of Democratic Montenegro and the Deputy Prime Minister, urging him to prevent further processing of this proposal submitted by his party's councilors. That letter was supported by 23 non-governmental organizations in Montenegro, and Bečić never responded to him," the announcement states.
Representatives of HRA and CGO were also present at the Council session, they remind. The President of the Council, Boris Pejović from the Europe Now Movement (PES), allowed HRA representative Elizabeta Mrnjačević to present arguments against the proposal at the session, but she was not allowed to answer the councilors who opposed them, the announcement states.
"On that occasion, Mrnjačević presented the well-known arguments of CGO, HRA and Anime that Pavle Bulatović, in his capacity as Minister of Internal Affairs, ordered the crime of Deportation of Bosnian-Herzegovinian refugees at the end of May 1992, as determined by the final judgment of the High Court in Podgorica Ks 6/12, from November 22.11.2012, 66. That order meant that 12 persons of Bosniak nationality were sent to the knife. Only 2000 of them survived the extradition under investigation and for other crimes suspected by people under his command while he was serving as the Minister of Defense of the FR Yugoslavia. Bulatović was killed in an assassination in Belgrade in XNUMX, under unclear circumstances," added the NGO sector.
Additionally, they remind, she pointed out that public tribute to Pavlo Bulatović "would mean glorification of the war crime of Deportation and would send a bad message to future generations". She drew attention to the responsibility of councilors when proposing "persons who can further polarize society".
Six councilors from the Democrats, the New Serbian Democracy (NSD), the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the Bosniak Party (BS) participated in the discussion.
"Council members Mitar Vuković and Mitar Šušić strongly reacted to the presentation of their colleague Mrnjačević. Vuković, from the Democrats, who is also among the proposers, said that 'the condemnation of this procedure is without evidence' and that the 'Democrats proudly nominated Pavle Bulatović', stating that is 'his biography and behavior an example of the future generation.' the state leadership must be responsible." Mitar Šušić assessed that the NGO's narrative was "hollow and without a legal basis." He also added that "Bulatović was the minister of internal affairs at a challenging historical moment" and that he "acted according to discretion, law or orders." He emphasized the importance of understanding the circumstances of the time when making decisions and that "we cannot judge his actions only from today's perspective." He also stated that he does not want this proposal to become a "platform for expressing ideologies" and that if the proposal is adopted, the NGO will , probably to organize 'performances, taking down or breaking the board under that name,'" the statement said.
Zoja Bojanić Lalović, councilor of DPS, emphasized that proposals for assigning names to streets should "bring us together, not divide us" and emphasized that it was obvious when 23 NGOs responded that there was a reaction from the public. Mihailo Anđušić, also from DPS, pointed out that "the situation is debatable to say the least", and that the position of 23 NGOs should be respected. Addressing the proponents, he concluded "whether they are right remains to be seen, just as it remains to be seen whether you are right".
Edin Tuzovic, councilor of BS, assessed that "the nineties were what they were", and added that he believes that more time should pass before the streets are named after people from that period.
"Since some councilors asked for evidence, we point out that the entire court files from the Deportation case are available on the following link, which clearly show that Bosnian-Herzegovinian refugees were deported to their deaths on the orders of Pavle Bulatović. In the end, out of 12 members of the Council, nine councilors voted for this proposal, including PES, while DPS and BS did not vote such a proposal came about in the first place and that the highest officials must not publicly decide on these issues that indicate the content of their values and commitment to the Europeanization of the state", HRA, CGO and ANIMA conclude.
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