Professor from the Faculty of Montenegrin Language and Literature (FCJK) Jelena Šušanj accused poets Bećir Vuković and Radomir Uljarević of falsifying information about the publication of the book for which Vuković received this year's Thirteenth of July Award.
"Confirmation has arrived. Bećir Vuković's book exists. Proof has arrived. Bećir Vuković and Radomir Uljarević falsified the information about the book's publication," claims Šušanj, in an author's text published on the Analitika Portal.
She stated in the text that she published a brief retrospective of events after Milica Kankaraš-Berber pointed out manipulations related to this publication.
"Dragica Lompar, director of the National Library 'Đurđe Crnojević', left no room for doubt: 'Based on extremely precise data, we have no knowledge that this publication has been published in any format. Since it is not recorded in our databases, and we did not receive it in physical form, it could not have been catalogued.' After that, while appearing on a show on City Television, the winner of the 2025 Thirteenth of July Award, writer Bećir Vuković, wondered why he was 'peeking' into the CIP now and stated that the awarded book was 'registered' in Serbia, because he mainly publishes his books in that country. Bećir thought he was a successful manipulator, because he based his lie on one fact - the publication will indeed be catalogued in the country in which it was published," Šušanj pointed out.
She added that a review of the website of the National Library of Serbia (NBS) determined that the book was not "registered" in the library that, according to the Serbian Law on Publishing, is responsible for catalog records.
"A search of the NBS monthly records proved that the CIP for the book 'Homeless Houses' was not published by this library, and a search of Cobiss showed that the ISBN and Cobiss number of the book 'Njegoš's Poetry Evenings', which were published in April 2025, were entered next to it. Let me remind you that this data is not issued retroactively for books that have already been printed, so catalog records published in 2025 cannot appear on a book from 2024," said Šušanj.
She stated that, however, then the corpus delicti "her little thing – the book" appeared.
"And on the last page, all the necessary information. First: Although the forgeries on Serbian Cobissu list the publisher as Štampar Makarije from Belgrade, in the printed publication, that Štampar Makarije is located in Podgorica. The National Library of Serbia is simply not competent for cataloging a publication published on the territory of Montenegro and cannot issue a catalog number. That is why it did not issue it. Second: Although Vuković said that his book was registered in Serbia, which he tried to disprove, the book clearly states: CIP – Cataloging in the publication National Library of Montenegro Cetinje. And let us repeat once again, neither Cetinje nor the National Library of Montenegro are in Serbia. Third: Below that statement, there is the ISBN (international publication identifier) and COBISS.SR-ID (identification number in the library-information network). A very small, tiny quibble. You will not believe it, but in Cobissu, the identifier for the Montenegrin library is not SR, but CG. A question of about 12 average salaries: how would a Montenegrin "Could the National Library have issued the identification number of the Serbian Cobiss? Absolutely not, because it didn't," wrote Šušanj in the author's text.
She also stated that the Cobiss number was taken from Bećir's book "Torn to a Deserted Island".
"The fact that this book has the same publisher and the same author tells us that both of them knew what they were doing this time too. Why they didn't - that is a question for the judicial authorities. Even if it was not provided for by the Law on Publishing Activities, both the author and the publisher of the CIP considered it important enough to forge it. And since the name and activity of the National Library of Đurđe Crnojević were misused through this forgery, and that the book was accepted for consideration by the jury on the basis of this forgery, it can easily be concluded that this forgery enabled the author to acquire unfounded financial gain and that there is a basis for prosecution. Therefore, I call on the National Library and other institutions and individuals to initiate proceedings before the competent authorities, the police and the prosecutor's office, to establish criminal liability, just as I will soon do with lawyer Nikola Belada," wrote Šušanj.
DON'T MISS IT
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
