Montenegro Arrests Man for Vandalising WWII Uprising Monument

The vandalised monument at Ravni Laz near Podgorica. Photo: Civic Action.

"The perpetrator of this act of vandalism was previously known to the police as a participant in the other incidents. He and a group of people defaced public areas by writing graffiti with national symbols in the settlement of Donja Gorica," the police's assistant commander in Podgorica, Ivan Rovcanin, told media.

He added that L.V. has also been prosecuted for obstructing police in the course of their duties during Serbian Orthodox Church religious gatherings.

The vandalising of the World War II monument has been condemned by the authorities and most of the country's political parties.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic told a press conference on Monday that "the state and law enforcement agencies will not let up until the individuals or groups behind this are brought to justice".

The mayor of Podgorica, Ivan Vukovic, announced that the Montenegrin capital will finance the monument's restoration.

The uprising in 1941 saw insurgents led by a combination of Communists and former Royal Yugoslav Army officers managed to capture most of Montenegrin territory within three weeks and force Italian troops to retreat to their strongholds in Pljevlja, Niksic and Podgorica. A counter-offensive by more than 70,000 Italian troops then suppressed the uprising within six weeks.

Montenegro has maintained respect for its Partisan heritage decades after the end of the communist regime in Yugoslavia. In December 2018, a bronze statue of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito was installed in Podgorica city centre on the initiative of the city hall and a group of World War II communist veterans.

In 2003, a memorial to the WWII-era leader of the royalist Chetnik movement...