Podgorica, (MINA) - The Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) has called on the prosecution to thorough review its policy on initiating proceedings for hate speech and the glorification of associates of fascists and Nazis and war criminals, which are being publicly promoted by individuals in positions of power.

CDT program director Milica Kovacevic announced that politicians, mayors, members of parliament, representatives of religious communities and other public figures are openly promoting such views.

“Judicial practice which can be observed on daily basis, clearly reveals the pattern of prosecutorial work: when it comes for hate speech and the glorification of war criminals, the law is only applied when the perpetrator is an anonymous citizen on social networks”, Kovacevic said.

She referred to the case of church dignitaries who called Pavle Djurisic, Hitler’s ally and commander of the Chetnik units that committed mass crimes against civilians, “a hero of invincible character”.

“If someone dared to publicly erect a monument to Adolf Hitler in Montenegro, there is no doubt that the judiciary would react promptly. But the glorification of his ally, responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Muslim villages, is considered, for our prosecution, “freedom of expression”, the press release said.

Kovacevic warned that, by exempting public figures from responsibility, the prosecution creates a dangerous precedent, suggesting that hate speech is acceptable if it comes from a position of power.

She said that the consequences are visible, that, instead of suppression, hatred is being normalized and that violence is becoming a real threat.

Kovacevic said that this is a message to the international community that Montenegro is not ready to apply the basic human rights standards and that the judiciary prefers to protect those spreading hatred, rather than citizens.