The police, as a rule, tolerate unreported, and therefore illegal, protests on roads across the country, or daily blockades that caused kilometer-long queues to form on busy roads during the spring. It is difficult to imagine how many will be in the summer if citizens continue to block the Cetinje - Podgorica and Šavnik - Žabljak roads, and one gets the impression that there is a lack of political will to solve the problem, which was unofficially told to "Vijesti" by the Police Directorate (UP).
Officially, the UP responds that, due to certain legal gaps and undefined solutions when organizing protests and public gatherings on major roads, they have initiated amendments to the Law on Public Gatherings and Public Events. This, they assess, would further regulate and standardize this type of public gathering in a precise and comprehensive manner, in accordance with international practice.
According to the current law, every protest must be reported to the police five days before it takes place, otherwise fines are foreseen...
The Police Department specifies that no citizen protests in the town of Kruševo Ždrijelo (Belvedere), on the main road Cetinje - Podgorica, have been reported. They also state that the citizen protest in Šavnik, or the blockade of the main road towards Žabljak, has been reported a total of nine times. A group of citizens from Cetinje have been organizing daily road blockades towards Podgorica since the beginning of February, demanding accountability from those in charge for two massacres in the capital in which 23 people were killed...
The Šavnik opposition, which is part of the state government's constituents, has been blocking the Šavnik-Žabljak road daily since the end of February, in protest of the re-election. Jugoslav Jakić (DPS) for the Mayor and the fact that the local elections have not been completed even though they were held in October 2022...
The UP specified that the blockade of the Cetinje - Podgorica road began on February 5, 2025 and is organized every day for 60 minutes, starting at 17.26:18.26 p.m. and ending at 1:7 p.m. They also stated that in the period from May 2025 to May 17.26, 20.26, the duration of the blockade was increased to three hours (from 8:120 p.m. to 17.26:19.26 p.m.), while starting from May XNUMX, the duration of the blockade was reduced to XNUMX minutes (from XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. to XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.).
"During the public gathering at Kruševo Ždrijelo, police officers from the Cetinje Security Department (OB), in cooperation with police officers from other security departments and police stations, are undertaking specific activities with the aim of maintaining stable public order and peace, safely holding the public gatherings themselves, and timely redirecting traffic to alternative routes."
The UP states that the road blockade in Šavnik has been reported nine times, and that since February 27 and the beginning of public gatherings, "the time period in which it is organized" has been changed several times.
"Police officers at the Šavnik Police Station have taken all necessary measures and actions in accordance with the law in each individual case in relation to the reports of public gatherings submitted."
The UP states that citizens are being invited to both protests via social media.
Blockades of main roads have also occurred in recent months near Nikšić, Bijelo Polje, Ulcinj...
"Vijesti" wrote about the same phenomenon last summer - when the tourist pre-season was marked by protests by workers of the Cetinje-based "Košuta" who expressed their dissatisfaction over unpaid wages by closing the road from Podgorica to Cetinje. Then, during the peak season, the people of Crmnica closed one of the most important roads in the country - preventing tourists and citizens from passing through the Sozina tunnel...
The law is clear
In cases of road blockades without prior notification of a public gathering, as explained by the Police Department, if there are alternative routes, police officers redirect traffic to the specified routes for the duration of the blockade.
"In circumstances where such a possibility does not exist, police officers secure a public gathering in order to preserve the safety of the gathered citizens, while traffic is stopped until the gathering ends."
In practice, as they specified, the Law on Public Gatherings and Public Events does not recognize public roads and thoroughfares as spaces unsuitable for protests. However, according to them, such gatherings may be prohibited or restricted if there is a threat to traffic safety or the rights of other persons, as well as if the organizers do not report the public gathering to the competent authorities in accordance with the Law.
"Also, case law in Montenegro shows that a minor traffic disruption is not a sufficient reason for an automatic ban on protests."
They point out that the Constitution of Montenegro prohibits permanent restrictions on the freedom of public assembly and that such a gathering can only be temporary. They state that this is also provided for in the Law on Public Assemblies, noting that there are circumstances when these rights can be restricted - when they prevent the exercise of the rights of other citizens, such as the right to movement.
The right to dissatisfaction and violation of the rights of others
Attorney Nikola Angelovski He told "Vijesti" that he fully supports the democratic right of every citizen to freely express their dissatisfaction:
"However, I would like to point out that the right is not absolute and that it is subject to constitutional and legal restrictions in all respects, in such a way that none of us can use our right to threaten the rights and freedoms of other citizens of Montenegro."
He assessed that the UP has a great responsibility to enable "the free flow of people, goods and capital on main, regional and local roads in Montenegro through legal action and conduct, because a public road, in accordance with the Law on Public Order and Peace, is a public place, and it stipulates that an offense constitutes disturbance or obstruction of the movement of citizens on the streets and other public places or obstruction of the exercise of their rights and obligations."
The UP reminded that the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, in Article 11, stipulates that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association with others:
“However, states have the right to restrict such protests if the reasons for the restriction are lawful and proportionate (e.g. to protect traffic safety or maintain public order). Furthermore, the European Convention allows restrictions on assemblies on main roads, but only if they are legally established, proportionate and justified. Accordingly, a state may not automatically prohibit a protest simply because it is held on a road, but there must be a specific and reasonable assessment of the risk.”
Police propose dialogue
The UP said that in the two aforementioned cases of blockades, as well as during similar events in the previous period, they thoroughly analyzed the legitimacy of the requests, when public gatherings were reported to the police in the form of a report, in accordance with the Law, as well as the goals for which they were organized.
"Representatives of the Police Administration at the local level have repeatedly, in dialogue with the organizers of the protest (formal and informal - when the gathering was not officially registered, or when it was a spontaneous gathering), tried to reach a compromise solution that would allow citizens to express their protest with alternative measures: blocking only one traffic lane, partial road blocking, blocking the road at another location, and the like, in order to enable other traffic participants to move freely, but such an agreement has not yet been reached."
The UP said that, in accordance with their responsibilities, they continue to contribute to overcoming and resolving the situation.
They added that the active involvement and participation of representatives of other state departments, bodies and institutions, as well as dialogue with protest organizers to address their demands, could lead to solutions that would end specific public gatherings, especially considering the necessity of the smooth running of the upcoming summer tourist season.
European Court rules in favor of Lithuania
The UP also recalled several rulings of the European Court of Human Rights in favor of the state - that although the gatherings on the roads were peaceful, they "disrupted the normal flow of traffic and thus endangered the rights of other citizens by causing serious consequences for everyday life."
“Specifically, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of K. and Others v. Lithuania (application no. 37553/05) took the position that: ‘Physical conduct which deliberately obstructs traffic and the regular course of life in order to seriously disrupt the activities of others is not at the very core of that freedom as conduct protected by Article 11’. In that case, it was concluded that public assemblies on roads were not directly directed at the activity being protested against, but rather aimed at blocking other activities (motorways) with no direct connection to the object of the protest. At the same time, the European Court emphasised that any assembly in a public place may lead to obstruction of traffic, but that this fact in itself does not justify restricting the freedom of peaceful assembly of citizens and that in this regard the state authorities must show a certain degree of tolerance”.
Bonus video:
