Montenegrin Police Violently Repress Religious-Law Protesters

As Montenegrin supporters of the Serbian Orthodox Church took to the streets Saturday to protest the highly contested law on religious communities, police forces violently clashed in the capital Podgorica leading to the use of tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd, In4s news portal reported.

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“These are the biggest protests that ever occurred in the country and they are happening in almost every major city in the country,” Serbian political analyst Aleksandar Vuksanović told teleSUR, adding that the “peaceful rallies are gathering over 100,000 people across the country,” in a state which has around 400,000 citizens.

The church followers and protesters from the Serbian community in Montenegro have united under the chant of "We will not give up the shrine!" since Dec. 27, when the so-called “prayerful walks” and protests began demanding that the government annuls the recently passed Freedom of Confession Act.

The legislation, signed by Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, will turn estates of religious entities into public property should they fail to prove a right to ownership prior to 1918, the year Montenegro was unified into former Yugoslavia. 

According to the Serbian Orthodox clergy, with this law, the state of Montenegro could expropriate most of the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro which includes over 650 centuries-old monasteries, churches, and the holy sites.

The church, the largest religious community in the country dating back to 1219, fears their seized assets will be then given to the self-proclaimed Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which was created in 1993 by a defrocked monk of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The Montenegrin religious entity itself is not recognized by the Catholic Church and only has support from a number of likewise non-canonical, unrecognized Eastern Orthodox Churches.

“This is just the end process of turning Montenegro into a full NATO protectorate in the Balkans...after creating an independent state in 2006, the Djukanovic regime is now trying to create its own church and destroy the existing one,” Vuksanović explained.

Yet for many locals, the decision is mired in a political pugnacity in which Serbs are seen as anti-NATO and pro-Russian supporters, thus Montenegro’s government strives to align to the western narrative of fighting Russian influence in the region. 

“These are purely peaceful prayer walks, led by the clergy, with no political background, even though the Government wants to present them as political and instructed by the state of Serbia,” Vuksanović told teleSUR.