Montenegro: “The smell of incense is stronger than tear gas”
The Montenegrin police began to use force against protesters against the anti-Orthodox law, but this did not stop the protests of supporters of the Serbian Church throughout the country.
Orthodox activists, in protest against the scandalous law “on freedom of religion”, which allows the confiscation of churches and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church, held a rally in one of the districts of the Montenegrin capital Zlatice.
They painted the fence in the colors of the Serbian flag and hung a banner calling not to give away Orthodox shrines. The authorities considered these actions illegal and decided to paint over the graffiti. Young people came to the defense.
They sang songs and chanted “Montenegro – Serbia!” The police called for them to disperse for some time, and then attacked with tear gas. After this, several young people tried to block the road, but to no avail.
Ten people were arrested, and only one minor was released. Police say three of their employees were injured and seven vehicles were damaged. However, in the video that protest participants post on social networks, no aggression on the part of the protesters was recorded. The police attack - the young people retreat.
However, the Podgorica Police Civilian Control Board was quick to declare that the actions of law enforcement officers “complied with norms and standards” and that “clear tolerance and restraint” were observed.
The next day, the graffiti on the wall was painted over with gray paint. However, after a few hours, stenciled inscriptions were applied on top: “We will not give up the shrine!”
The chairman of the youth movement of the new Serbian democracy, Niksic Spasoe Tomic, believes that the police staged a planned provocation against the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC).
“The disgraceful police action in Zlatitsa certainly had one goal - it was an attempt to provoke people to go out into the streets and create riots so that they could apply the provisions of the so-called law on freedom of religion. One of the articles of this law says: “if a religious community causes unrest or conflicts, then it can be prohibited by a competent court.” They would like to provoke more incidents in order to blame the SOC and ban it in Montenegro. If serious conflicts had occurred, today the pro-government media would have written: “The SOC will destabilize Montenegro.” But we did not succumb to provocations,” Tomic wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday.
He called on Serbs and Orthodox Christians to go out not to rallies, but to church services and religious processions.
“We must show them how many we are and that our faith in God is unshakable. The smell of incense is stronger than the smell of tear gas!” – Tomic wrote.
On January 27, Serbia celebrates St. Sava's Day. According to Orthodox tradition, any holiday begins the evening before. Tens of thousands of people came out to religious processions in all cities and villages of Montenegro. In the capital alone there were 40 of them. In addition to icons and banners, they carried a poster: “Montenegrin, do not beat your Serb brother!”
Metropolitan Amfilohiy of Montenegro-Primorye addressed the participants of the religious procession and said that many police officers were asking him for his blessing so that they would not have to use force against participants in mass actions. He appealed to the police authorities with a request not to manipulate their subordinates and force them to act against their conscience.
“Didn’t those who are fighting the tricolor now, just recently, after the 1990s, live under this tricolor,” the Serbian Unity newspaper quotes the bishop as saying.
“Nobody believed that we could get into a situation where Serbs needed to be protected from Serbs. The authorities of Montenegro have taken aim at our shrines. But it was the Church that created Montenegro,” the Borba newspaper quotes Serbian Patriarch Irinej.
However, according to Montenegrin politician Milko Milacic, new graffiti with the tricolor has already appeared in Montenegro. Activists again came to their defense.
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