Podgorica, (MINA) - Protests in Podgorica on Tuesday have grown into a mass expression of a phenomenon that can be, at best, described as racism, the Institution of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms assessed, warning that these developments can have unfathomable consequences for Montenegro as a society and as a state.

The Institution of the Protector, noting that numerous appeals to calm tensions following the wounding of the young man in Zabjelo, were ignored, said that it is necessary to stop the racial hysteria.

“Once again, we emphasize that the lives and health of everyone residing in Montenegro are of the greatest interest, and the fight against all forms of crime is one of the means to achieve that goal”, the Ombudsman’s press release states.

They recalled that the right to peaceful assembly is a way of free expression of opinions in a democratic society, but warned that the scenes witnessed on Tuesday evening threaten to discredit everything that civil society should stand for.

The Ombudsman said that any generalization or association of entire nation or ethnic group with violence or criminal behavior is racism.