Vojinović on the Bioč tragedy: Who played Russian roulette with Russian trains?

On January 19nd, 47 years since the train accident on Bioč, when 200 passengers died and more than XNUMX were injured, will be marked at the monument to the victims in the city park in Bijelo Polje, announced the NGO "Train of Unhappiness".

At a press conference held today in Bijelo Polje, the president of the NGO, Goran Vojinović, said that a crime and not an accident occurred at Bioč, emphasizing that everything could have been avoided, as indicated by numerous pieces of evidence.

"After 19 years, we are wondering who played Russian roulette with Russian trains, and the stake and mortgage were our children, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers and citizens of Montenegro. Why has Pandora's box called 'Crime on Bioča' committed by players or powerful people who played Russian roulette not been opened to this day? What is the problem, fear, interest, ignorance, powerlessness or some hundred other reasons, there is no answer from the wider social community, individuals, intellectuals, NGO sector, reputable lawyers or any state institution of the Government, Parliament or Prosecutor's Office. For the umpteenth time, we emphasize that in the private party enterprise called the Railways of Montenegro before and during the crime on Bioča in 2006, all negative social phenomena were contained, from theft, corruption, abuse of official position to the order to commit one of the most serious crimes. Support for these activities, along with a significant role in covering up the crime and those who committed it, was also played by state institutions, the Government, the Ministry "...the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Interior, the National Security Agency, the Prosecutor's Office, the Judiciary and the Parliament of Montenegro. In short, all three branches of government played a significant role in this crime," said Vojinović, adding that some committed it, others concealed evidence, others covered up and released the perpetrators, and the fourth, through a "shameful court process" in cooperation with the Prosecutor's Office, brought "an unprecedented shameful verdict in judicial practice," while the fifth worked to cover up the crime.

He cited among the main evidence that the crime could have been prevented the warning, which the SCG Railways sent in writing to the Montenegrin Railways, that the so-called Russian trains are not suitable for transporting passengers on the Bijelo Polje-Podgorica section of the railway, due to the steep slope of the terrain, with full train capacity, as they are intended for transporting passengers in flat areas.

"The second piece of evidence - a warning is a decision - is the decision of the management of the Montenegrin Railways about two years before Bioč that six brake systems could be removed from the Russian train sets for reasons of profitability and savings. The third piece of evidence is a warning two months before the crime, when the Montenegrin Railways measuring cars detected damage to the rail of over one centimeter (exactly at the point where the train would derail on January 23), which automatically, according to the service rule, meant that all passenger and freight traffic had to be suspended due to the detected damage. The fourth piece of evidence - a warning - occurred on the day of the crime, when the train driver who was originally assigned to operate the train from Bar to Bijelo Polje and back upon arrival at the station in Podgorica left the train control with the sole explanation that 'the train is unfit for further travel'. The fifth piece of evidence is the fact that all car inspectors and train dispatchers on the Podgorica-Bijelo Polje route and back to Bioč gave permission for the train to continue running," said Vojinović.

The sixth piece of evidence - a warning, Vojinović pointed out, occurred at the Lutovo station, when the train driver Slobodan Drobnjak stopped the train and said: "This is the end of the ride, the train is faulty and will not go any further."

"Drobnjak knows who ordered him over the phone to 'drag' the faulty train to Podgorica. The seventh piece of evidence - the warning is at the unoccupied Bratonožići station where the train was stopped for more than half an hour not on a flat section of the track a few hundred meters in front of the station, but some three hundred meters from that section of the track where the pronounced slope of the terrain already begins. There, Drobnjak, along with his support staff and even the conductor, should have set at least one stop pedal or simply informed the passengers to get off the train. No one wanted to accept the announced warnings, take them seriously and take any action to prevent this unprecedented crime," Vojinović pointed out.

The NGO "Voz neprebola" is seeking to finally uncover the truth and uncover the culprits for the "unprecedented crime" on Bioč.

"A poor country is one that kills its citizens and protects the guilty, thieves and murderers," said Vojinović, emphasizing that for the first time in 19 years they received public support from the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, and that they hope that the court verdict will be reviewed and the truth revealed.

This NGO announced that, due to the tragedy in Cetinje, they will not be addressing the public from the anniversary commemorations in Bijelo Polje and Bioč.