"We fulfilled our mission tonight. This cannot end here. We must not rest," said director Danilo Marunović at the end of the protest near Vila Gorica in Podgorica, organized on the occasion of the awarding of the Thirteenth of July Award to writer Bećir Vuković.
"Kudos to each and every one of you. You are the first fighters. Your fight begins tonight," Marunović told the crowd, as they chanted "This is not Serbia."
"I'll end with one sentence. July 13th is coming. Thank you and see you soon," he concluded, after which the protesters began to disperse.
Previously, at the protest, there was a scuffle between the police and several hundred citizens gathered.
Police used pepper spray after protesters tried to break through the cordon in front of them.
video: A. Turović
After some time, the demonstrators tried to break through the cordon again, after which the police used pepper spray again, and the crowd responded with eggs and stones.
The executive director of the NGO 35mm, Darko Ivanović, who is among the demonstrators, told the police not to pepper spray them, and that they had not come to fight.
The crowd chants: "Fascists" and "Treason." They unfurl a banner that reads: "No Pasaran"
video: A. Turović
Among them are directors Danilo Marunović and Mladen Ivanović, DPS MP Oskar Huter, SD official Miloš Đuričković, Vladimir Nikaljević, Liberal Party president Vatroslav Belan, DPS MP Andrija Nikolić...
Branislav Radulović and Aida Petrović are also present as representatives of the Council for Civilian Control of the Police.
The crowd chants "Shame on you, Bećira" and "Throw your shields." Marunović asks the police to let him pass.
The demonstrators sang the Montenegrin anthem and then began chanting "Mandic, fascist."
Some of those present sang the lyrics of the song "Neukusu treba reći NO!" by Discipline kicme, and then the song "Bandiera Rossa".
Marunović tried to enter, claiming that he was a member of the jury and that Andrija Mandić had invited him to the ceremony, but the police did not allow him to pass.
He said he could call on all the protesters to break through the cordon, but he wouldn't, and that he just wanted to get through. "Arrest me," Marunović told the police after he tried to get through to Villa Gorica.
A police cordon is in place at the corner of Risto Stijovića and Beogradska Streets, so that guests can arrive at the ceremony via Beogradska Street.
The winners of the Thirteenth of July Award for this year are, in addition to Vuković, graphic artist Veljo Stanišić and musician Miloš Karadaglić, who previously announced that he could not accept the award "under these circumstances".
The protest is being organized by the Strategy for a European and Civic Montenegro (STEGA), because in their opinion, the law was violated by its award this year.
"We expect all citizens who will come to the protest to express their revolt against the illegal actions of the Jury and the gross trivialization of the award in a peaceful, civilized and dignified manner, and to show with this civil protest that culture is defended with a culture of resistance to unculture," the organization said earlier today.
"I am here today, among other things, because a man called Bećir Vuković, a quasi-writer, cannot receive the highest award because he does not recognize the Montenegrin nation, and calls it 'the bastards of the Comintern', 'Moša's bastards'..." said Jelena Milicković, who is a fixture among the gathered citizens tonight.
"I am here today, among other things, because my grandfather was the commander of the Zeta Detachment. Today, I am here on his behalf to say that fascists cannot rule Montenegro," she stressed.
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