Montenegrin Philological Society: Raonić and RTCG management should resign

(Patria) - The Montenegrin Philological Society calls on General Director Boris Raonić and the management of RTCG to resign due to, as they say, “open discrimination” against journalists, and thus mitigate the damage they have “caused by their unconstitutional and discriminatory actions”.

The Montenegrin Philological Society, as stated, “strongly condemns the discrimination on linguistic grounds to which an RTCG journalist was exposed for using the Montenegrin language”.

“The Montenegrin language is designated as the official language by the Constitution of Montenegro, and any ban or restriction on its use in the manner planned by the management of RTCG must meet with general condemnation, but also be legally sanctioned. The Constitution of Montenegro strictly prohibits discrimination on any grounds, so the act of removing a journalist from their position because they use the Montenegrin language cannot be interpreted otherwise than as a violation of the Constitution and shameless discrimination,” the statement reads.

From the Montenegrin Philological Society, they state that “only Raonić’s denials are more brazen than the harassment”.

“The only thing more brazen than the very act of harassing the journalist is the denial by the General Director of RTCG, who, by shifting the argument and sticking labels of nationalism and extremism on those who dared to point out the scandalous behavior of RTCG management, indirectly confirms the bad intentions and autocratic methods of dealing with those marked as undesirable,” the Society adds.

Since RTCG under the leadership of Boris Raonić, in their words, “continuously proves that it is not a public service but one of the propaganda platforms in the service of Aleksandar Vučić’s hegemonic project called the Serbian World”, it is certain, they say, that “the discrimination of a journalist for using the Montenegrin language is only an introduction to the process of segregation of Montenegrins and their assimilation”.

“The Montenegrin Philological Society calls on Boris Raonić and the management of RTCG to urgently resign due to open discrimination against journalists and thus mitigate the damage they have caused by their unconstitutional and discriminatory actions. We also call on the Ombudsman, as well as the Media Directorate of the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights to condemn the discrimination and take all measures within their domain to prevent further discrimination on linguistic grounds,” they emphasized from the Montenegrin Philological Society.

They also announced the filing of a lawsuit for violation of the Constitution and discrimination.

“At the same time, they warn followers of Vučić’s policy who – as shown by first-instance court decisions – have usurped top positions in the Public Service, that lawsuits will be filed against them for violation of the Constitution and discrimination,” they conclude.