The mayor of the town where the deportation of refugees from Montenegro to Republika Srpska allegedly occurred, says a monument for the victims should be erected once the trial is completed.
In the spring of 1992 at least 66 Bosniak refugees were deported from Herceg Novi, Montenegro, to Republika Srpska. Most of the refugees were subsequently executed.
Twenty years after this crime, four human right activists, Ljupka Kovacevic, Daliborka Uljarevic, Aleksandar Zekovic and Tea Gorjanc Prelevic believe that the last year’s initiative to build a monument for the victims in Herceg Novi should be realised.
They also want May 27 to be declared a Day of Remembrance for this event and called for the Montenegrin police to apologise for their role in the deportations.
On Tuesday, Dejan Mandic, the mayor of Herceg Novi, said that the monument should be built once it is proven that the refugees were taken from the town.
“It is true that those people were killed. It is true that some people were brought to the police...But I think we have time to erect the monument, after all is proven,” he said.
In March, the Appellate Court overturned the acquittal of nine former police officers that were indicted for the unlawful arrest and subsequent deportation of 79 Bosniak and Serb refugees to Republika Srpska in the spring of 1992. The case is presently facing a retrial.
Although the Ministry of Culture welcomed the initiative to erect the monument last year, the procedure stipulate that the municipality must first propose the building of any monument.