Freedom House: Law on “religious freedom” has deepened the division of Montenegro
Montenegrin media tried to hide from their citizens the negative assessments of the country's policies made by American human rights activists in their latest report, but the opposition made these conclusions public.
This was reported by the Srpske Novine portal, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
In its latest report, “States in Transition,” the American human rights organization Freedom House concluded that in matters of democratic development, Montenegro has taken a step back from a state of “partially consolidated democracy” to “hybrid regimes.”
Pro-government Montenegrin media tried to explain such an assessment by the insufficient activity of eco-protests (in the country at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, the country experienced high levels of air pollution over large cities, which is why local authorities issued recommendations to their inhabitants to refrain from walking and going out on the street), as well as the rather sluggish reaction of the authorities to them.
And they specifically stipulated that such a conclusion by human rights activists in no way relates to the protest prayer rallies of the SOC against the discriminatory Law on Freedom of Religion, explaining this by the fact that information on them could not be included in the report for 2019 (the law itself was only signed by the permanent leader of this country, Milo Djukanovic in the last days of December).
Due to the fact that the original text of Freedom House is not available to a wide Montenegrin audience, the opposition Montenegrin as well as Serbian media decided to publish its literal translation.
“The adoption [of the law] further polarized the already divided society of Montenegro and diverted the attention of citizens from other pressing government issues,” the report says. – In December, the Assembly passed the Law on Freedom of Religious Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities (known as the “Freedom of Religion Law”), despite strong objections from many opposition parties and the Serbian Orthodox Church, which faces the risk of losing its property. All attempts by the opposition to change the law before its adoption were rejected.”
The text states that the law obliges religious organizations to provide documents confirming ownership of any property built before 1918, which “may limit” the Serbian Orthodox Church. The document also indicates that deputies of the opposition Democratic Front tried to prevent the final vote on the law, for which seventeen of them were arrested.
“President Djukanovic signed the law on December 28, the day after its adoption. Large peaceful protests across the country, organized by the Serbian Orthodox Church, began immediately and continued into 2020,” human rights activists said.
Thus, even the American organization Freedom House was forced to admit the anti-church orientation of the activities of the Montenegrin regime, for which it lowered its rating compared to other states in a “state of transition.”
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