Canović denies media reports: Kenan is not in Syria, he is studying in Sarajevo

Kemal Canović from Plav denied the reports of the Podgorica daily newspaper „Dan“ that his son Kenan was on the battlefield in Syria, reports the Patria News Agency.

“Dan“ published that among the Montenegrin citizens fighting in Syria are brothers Džemal and Kenan Canović from Plav, and that their sister Ines Canović also spent some time on the battlefield there.

The portal Analitika reports that Canović told journalists, in the presence of his son, after the ceremonial part of the Congress of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), that Kenan is studying in Sarajevo, that he was not on the battlefield in Syria, and that he has never supported radical ideologies.

- For personal reasons, I have not participated in the work of the SDP Main Board for the last two to three years. However, I appeared at the last Main Board and disrupted the plans of some individuals, which led to campaigns and pressure on me and my family. Certain groups connected with the daily newspaper ‘Dan’ and their branches in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Plav have fabricated monstrous lies, putting a picture of a man unknown to me and signing it as my son Kenan Canović, who is allegedly fighting in Syria. He is a student in Sarajevo and has never been to Syria, nor has he supported that ideology. That is why I had to bring him here and clear my family's name, said Canović.

He accused “Dan“ of spreading Islamophobia to increase its circulation.

- I am telling these monsters, journalists, and their helpers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Plav that they will not succeed. These are not the 90s, nor is this a country from the 90s. I believe in the state and I ask the Minister of Police and all competent authorities to conduct an investigation in the Plav Ministry of Internal Affairs and initiate investigations against the people who made such monstrous statements. I have engaged lawyers, and this dispute will have a court epilogue, Canović said.