Delević: Our violence is escalating, but the profession is silent, peer violence is not a criminal offense according to the Criminal Code

Due to violent behavior towards two minor athletes from Sarajevo, 18-year-old Božidar Kaluđerović from Bar, the local prosecutor's office ordered detention for up to 72 hours.

A criminal complaint will be filed against Kaluđerović and four other minors, who beat up young Sarajevo athletes two days ago in Bar, for violent behavior and inflicting serious bodily injuries.

Despite the event that alarmed the public of the two countries, one of the juvenile thugs managed to send a message from the police station in Bar.

Four minors should be heard tomorrow, in urgent proceedings.

The athletes from Bosnia and Herzegovina who were in Montenegro for training are 14 and 17 years old. One of them suffered serious physical injuries - a broken nose and cheekbone and he will be operated on in Sarajevo, while the other has minor physical injuries - cuts on the back of his head and bruises.

His mother, Arduana Pribinja, a journalist from Sarajevo, announced on Twitter that she was informed that the four minor attackers were released to defend themselves and that the Montenegrin legal framework does not foresee the possibility of their detention. Pribinja points out that she receives numerous messages from Montenegro from those whose children suffer peer violence almost daily, while there is no political reaction.

"It is a problem of Montenegrin society, which must be solved by changing the legal framework. Children must know that such actions will not go unpunished. And they are punished with adequate sanctions. Otherwise, politics, first of all, normalizes the most terrible social patterns, which will give birth to insoluble social problems. ", stated Pribinja.

The public institution Centar Ljubović indicates that something must change. However, they point out that they provide services only when minors are referred to them by decisions of courts or centers for social work.

"Whether these institutions sufficiently use their capacities, i.e. opportunities and legal authorizations, is not a question for Ljubović, but for them. In the last period, we notice that everything that is happening tells us that the profession's approach to the problem of peer violence is not adequate, and the problems are only getting more complicated. On the one hand, violence is escalating against us, and the profession is silent," Nina Delević, director of JU Center Ljubović, told Television Vijesti.

Earlier, the authorities and the NGO sector called for something to be done.

Secretary General of the Government Boris Marić confirmed to Television News that the Government will start the procedure tomorrow and propose to the Ministry of Education that the report on the implementation of the Program for the Suppression of Peer Violence and Vandalism in Educational Institutions be declassified.

That program shows how the system is connected, who is responsible for what and where certain responsibilities overlap.

Delević, who runs an institution where there are currently 12 users from all over Montenegro, detects a key problem:

"A mild criminal policy that is implemented for all criminal offenses. According to our Criminal Code, peer violence is not a criminal offense at all, and that is the main problem, on the one hand. On the other hand, the legislative framework is such - we are now talking about with the practical problems that we had, that the perpetrator of the crime - aggravated murder is sentenced to the maximum sentence, which is prescribed for the duration of half a year to three years, and we are talking about the criminal policy for peer violence. With such a constellation of things, we cannot talk about criminal policy, because our criminal code does not recognize peer violence as socially unacceptable. And what is necessary to do is to work on amendments to the Criminal Code and the Law on Execution of Criminal Sanctions against Minors in the direction of tightening the criminal policy," Delević said.

The Center currently has two users from Pljevlja, one each from Beran, Bijelo Polje and Rožaj, and seven users from Podgorica. A professional team of 13 people works with them.

"There, a complete diagnosis is made, based on that, an individual work plan is made. The child stays in the institution, depending on who refers him, the center or the court, for a period of six months to two years. In addition to activities in the institution, they also have activities outside, that is school, even though the child comes from another city, and we refer the children to work activities as well. Also, the children first have to go out to the store, to go out in the city," said the psychologist at the Ljubović Center, Marija Varajić.

From the Ministry of Internal Affairs, today's promise:

"The event in Bar, as well as a number of others we are witnessing these days, remind us that we must additionally work on preventing peer violence, which will be our priority in the coming period," said Interior Minister Filip Adžić.

From the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, on the other hand, an appeal to move from words to actions.

"How many times should we have warned in order to prevent the bar scenario? How serious is it if the victims are waiting for a barricade to frighten and discourage them. It's 12:XNUMX in Montenegro," said Ombudsman Siniša Bjeković.

Action for Human Rights emphasize that it is necessary to investigate whether the motive for the attack in Bar is national, ethnic or religious affiliation.