Blockade of highways, expressways, main, regional or local roads and border crossings is prohibited if those protesting thereby prevent or hinder traffic and the movement of other citizens.
Fines ranging from 500 to 10.000 euros are foreseen for those who fail to comply.
This is stated in the proposed amendments to the law on public gatherings and public events proposed by the ruling majority MPs.
The proposal to amend the regulations is already in the parliamentary procedure, and it is being signed by Seid Hodzic from the list of the Europe Now Movement, Dusko Stjepović (Democrats), Jelena Kljajević (DNP), Dejan Djurovic (NSD) i Bogdan Božović (SNP).
The current Law on Public Gatherings and Public Events does not recognize public roads and traffic routes as spaces unsuitable for protests.
"Vijesti" was told by the Police Administration about ten days ago that citizens are blocking several roads across Montenegro in protest. They specifically referred to the road blockades in the town of Kruševo Ždrijelo (Belvedere), on the Cetinje - Podgorica main road, emphasizing that no protests have been reported so far.
A group of citizens from Cetinje has been organizing daily roadblocks towards Podgorica since the beginning of February, demanding accountability for two massacres in the capital in which 23 people were killed.
They also announced that the protest of citizens in Šavnik, namely the blockade of the highway towards Žabljak, was reported a total of nine times.
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 of the Municipality and the fact that the local elections have not been completed even though they were held in October 2022.
Although last year, during the blockades of roads towards Cetinje and Bar in the summer pre-season, they claimed they were not competent to judge whether those protesting were threatening the human rights and freedoms of other citizens, the UP responded to the editorial staff this year by reminding them of several rulings of the European Court of Human Rights in favor of states.
They explain that although the gatherings on the roads were peaceful, according to the European Court, they "disrupted the normal flow of traffic and thus endangered the rights of other citizens by causing serious consequences for everyday life."
Penalties for protest leaders too
The explanation of the proposed amendments states that it prohibits impeding traffic and restricting the movement of citizens, but also more precisely defines the concept of organizer of a public gathering and tightens the penalty framework.
"The fine for a legal entity as an organizer of a gathering is increased from the current amount of 500 to 5.000 euros to the amount of 5.000 to 10.000 euros, which clearly demonstrates the legislator's intention to have a preventive and repressive effect on irresponsible behavior when organizing public gatherings. A new point has been introduced into the article, which specifically sanctions the holding of public gatherings on highways, main, regional and local roads, as well as at border crossings, if this prevents or makes traffic difficult, endangers safety or restricts the movement of citizens, which represents a significant novelty in the normative framework of traffic and public safety," the explanatory memorandum to the future regulation states.
The draft law now separates liability between legal and natural persons. The future regulation also introduces an obligation for the leader of the assembly to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and the movement of citizens if the assembly takes place on highways, expressways, regional, main and local roads, as well as border crossings.
"In addition to a legal entity as an organizer, a responsible person within that legal entity may also be sanctioned with fines of 3.000 to 5.000 euros, while a natural person as an organizer is liable to a fine of 1.000 to 2.000 euros, and a participant in a gathering who violates the new regulation is fined 500 to 2.000 euros. The leader of the gathering will now be punished with a fine in an increased range - from 1.000 to 2.000 euros, which significantly increases the level of sanctioning compared to the previous framework in the range of 100 to 500 euros. This amendment clearly indicates the legislator's intention to influence a greater degree of discipline and responsibility in managing public gatherings through a stricter penalty policy," states the Bill, signed by five MPs.
The MPs also point out that the adoption of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Public Gatherings "is conditioned by the need to improve the normative framework in order to preserve public order, security, freedom of movement of citizens and the smooth flow of traffic, especially in the context of increasingly frequent gatherings that result in the blockage of roads and disruption of the work of competent services."
"The proposed amendments aim to establish a better balance between the constitutional right to public assembly and the protection of other fundamental rights and freedoms, as well as the smooth functioning of public systems. The amendments are aligned with the needs of modern society, challenges in practice and the obligations of the state in the field of public security and protection of the rights of all citizens," it is specified in the explanation of the Proposal for Amendments to that regulation.
They tried to resolve it through conversation.
The Police Department recently told "Vijesti" that in two current cases of blockades, as well as during similar events in the previous period, they have 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 are 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.
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