The Municipality of Herceg Novi is ready to include the request for the erection of a monument to the victims of the deportation of Bosnian and Herzegovinian refugees from Montenegro in the comprehensive Program for the erection of memorials on the territory of that municipality, which will be decided by the councilors of the Municipal Assembly (MA) of Herceg Novi, the non-governmental organization (NGO) Human Rights Action (HRA) announced today.
The HRA statement states that on the occasion of marking the 33rd anniversary of the deportation of Bosnian and Herzegovinian refugees from Montenegro and resubmitting the initiative to erect a monument to the victims of deportation, the presidents of the Municipality and the Municipal Assembly of Herceg Novi, Stevan Katić and Miloš Konjević, met with representatives of the HRA, the Center for Civic Education and the Center for Women's and Peace Education - ANIMA, which are the initiators of the initiative, and the families of the victims.
As stated in the statement, the local government, as in previous years, expressed regret for the suffering of the victims, showed its willingness to support the initiative and pointed out to the initiators the procedural steps they must complete in order to erect the memorial.
"With respect for the victims and their families, it was emphasized that the local government, the city of Herceg Novi and the citizens were not the decision makers, but rather the state was the one that determined that Herceg Novi would be the place where this terrible act was committed in 1992," the statement reads.
HRA said that it was also pointed out that, in accordance with the Law on Memorials, the request of the non-governmental organizations ANIMA, HRA and CCE must be formalized and accepted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (who owns the plateau in front of the Herceg Novi Security Department where the memorial is planned) and the Ministry of Culture and Media, i.e. the Government of Montenegro, which must give consent that the memorial can be erected before the expiration of the 50-year period from the date the event occurred, as provided for by the Law.
"In this way, the Municipality of Herceg Novi is ready to include the request for installation in the comprehensive Program for the installation of memorials in the territory of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, which will be decided by the councilors of the Herceg Novi Municipal Assembly," said the HRA.
The statement says that the meeting was also attended by the Chief Administrator of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, Nenad Đorđević, Secretary for Culture and Education, Ana Zambelić Pištalo, Alen Bajrović, son of the victim Osmo Bajrović, Sejda Krdžalija, mother of the victim Sanin Krdžalija, and Hikmeta Prelo, who lost her son Amer, brother Himz Čengić and son-in-law Smail Hasanbegović.
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