The Spektra Association urges the Police Directorate to promptly provide data on measures taken to protect citizens, as well as information on the potential connection between cases of violence against minors and transgender people.
Based on the information we received from two transgender people with foreign citizenship today, which the media also wrote about during the day, who were attacked on three occasions in Podgorica between December 29 and January 20, we call on the Police Directorate to urgently share information about the measures taken within its jurisdiction to find the perpetrators of the violence, the organization said.
"According to the data we have, in the past month the police have failed to protect two transgender people, who were physically attacked several times near their residential address, and who reported these cases promptly and promptly. After the first attack that occurred before New Year's Day, carried out by an individual attacker, the attacks on January 16th and 17th were carried out by a larger group, using metal rods and stones, which shows worrying similarities with the information we have about children attacked in previous days," the Spektra Association said in a statement.
It is added that the attacked trans people believe that the attacks were motivated by hatred based on gender identity and sexual orientation. They also believe that the police did not do their job and did not protect them either after the first or second attack.
"They base this belief on the fact that they did not receive any feedback from the Police Directorate after the reports were filed, except for the information that several minors were detained. Based on the information provided to us today, after the victims offered to come forward to identify the attackers, they did not receive any feedback from the competent authorities. There is currently no information whether any of the perpetrators of these attacks have been found and prosecuted.
"Also, the victims have reason to suspect that it was the same group that attacked several minors, and that the group of perpetrators was actually waiting for them at the given locations, which they shared in a Viber conversation with the relevant officer, which we had access to, after which they did not receive a response," said the NGO.
They pointed out that this is not the first case of an attack on transgender people in Montenegro that Spektra has been informed about, and that it is concerning that we receive information from transgender people that after reporting the case, the case generally does not have a satisfactory outcome.
"The Spektra Association hereby publicly appeals to the Police Directorate to, within the scope of its possibilities, publish all information on the actions taken to find the perpetrator and ensure the safety of those who reported the violence. We hereby call on the acting director of the Police Directorate, Mr. Šćepanović, to publish the given data," the statement concludes.
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