By naming a street after Krsto Đurović, Cetinje is not only paying tribute to a hero of conscience, but also sending an important message: that Montenegro remembers and respects those who dared to say "no" to crime, even when it could - and probably cost - their lives, emphasizes a joint statement by the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Human Rights Action (HRA), the Center for Civic Education (CCE) and Antifascists Cetinje.
These NGOs spoke out after, on their joint initiative, the councilors of the Assembly of the Royal Capital of Cetinje gave their consent for a street in the Pod Granicom neighborhood to be named after Krsto Đurović - an officer who, as these NGOs announced, showed that honor, conscience, and humanity can be above all else.
"Krsto Đurović was a rear admiral of the Yugoslav People's Army and commander of the southern naval sector of Boka. He disagreed with the policies, plans and actions of the JNA and the political leadership regarding 'Operation Dubrovnik'. He opposed the aggression against Croatia, which is confirmed by several testimonies from people around him. The mayor of Dubrovnik during that war, Petar Poljanić, during the trial of Slobodan Milošević in The Hague, uttered, among other things, a sentence that certainly best describes the kind of person Krsto Đurović was: 'As long as I am the commander of the Boka Naval Command, you can be sure that not a single shell will fall on Dubrovnik'," the explanation stated, among other things.
Đurović died on October 5, 1991, in a helicopter over Konavle (Popovići, Croatia), and his death remained unexplained. Numerous records from the Dubrovnik-Herzegovina battlefield indicate suspicion that the helicopter was shot at by JNA troops, the statement from the aforementioned NGOs states.
HRA, CCE and Antifascists of Cetinje concluded that in a time when historical facts are relativized and aggressors are rehabilitated, such symbolic gestures have profound educational, moral and social value.
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