Incidents between Podgorica firefighters and "Čistoća" workers are unrelated, the prosecution formed a case

The clashes that took place at the beginning of September between several Podgorica firefighters and "Čistoća" workers should be viewed as isolated incidents, on which the competent authorities will have the final say. This is the opinion of the president of the most numerous union of firefighters in Montenegro, which operates within the Union of Free Trade Unions.

"After that, the services sat down, an agreement was reached, the tensions were reduced, a settlement was reached, and I don't think that any kind of story about that topic should be deepened, which was done by the Administration of Justice for reasons unknown to us," he said. Predrag Milikić, president of the Professional Union of Firefighters of Montenegro.

The Union of Administration and Justice announced on Friday that from September 1 to 6, some Podgorica firefighters were repeatedly targeted by their colleagues from "Čistocë".

Firefighter Zdravko Blečić also accused Lazar Čađenović, head of the Department for Operational Affairs in the Protection and Rescue Service, of preventing the arrival of the police and threatening them after one of the incidents.

Čađenović denied it and considered it a fiction and a personal confrontation with him.

"He has a personal war with the Čađenović in question, which he has been waging for several years, and I would ask him not to interfere with fellow firefighters who are doing their job," explained Milikić.

In a separate incident, at Vrele Ribnički, a firefighter was hit by a stone under his eye and is on sick leave. Milikić said that he cannot say that these events are connected and that this will most likely be proven by the state prosecution.

He explained that now on the field, where they come to meet the workers of "Cistoca", they cooperate well and there are no problems.

He claims that no one covered anything up, as the other union claims, because the criminal complaint was filed with the prosecutor's office immediately after the unfortunate event.

"This is what one service and one union can do. We initiated it, it was initiated, everything else is before the competent authorities who need to carry it out to the end, and we will monitor it closely."

The prosecutor's office announced today that they have opened a case on the occasion of all these events, and that the investigation is ongoing, but in the interest of the investigation, they cannot provide more information.