Reis Fejzić calls for condemnation of genocide against Bosniaks in Šahovići

(Patria) - Parliamentary clubs in the Parliament of Montenegro have received an initiative to adopt a Proposal for a Resolution on the genocide in Šahovići, authored by the Reis-ul-ulema of the Islamic Community, Rifat Fejzić, and academic Šerbo Rastoder.

In order for the initiative to formally enter parliamentary procedure, it needs to be signed by at least four MPs, Vijesti.me reports.

If included in the agenda of one of the upcoming parliamentary sessions in the form of a Resolution, its adoption will require 41 MP votes.

As reasons for voting for the resolution, as "Vijesti" previously reported, the authors state that 100 years ago, under peacetime conditions, a mass crime was committed against the Muslim population in the Vranjska Valley, triggered by the ambush killing of Boško Bošković, then head of the retired Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The Resolution proposes, among other things, that the Parliament assess that a century of silence about the mass crime against innocent citizens further obliges condemnation of this and any similar crime...

Rastoder previously told "Vijesti" that he expects all parliamentary clubs in the Parliament to support the resolution.

"We believe this is not an issue for Bosniaks, but for a civic and multinational Montenegro. Therefore, if everyone advocates for that concept of the state in principle, then we see no reason not to support this resolution, which, in its spirit, character, and messages, reflects exactly that," Rastoder said.

On this occasion, he met with the Speaker of Parliament Andrija Mandić, and, as he stated, they had a constructive conversation.

The office of the Speaker of Parliament has not previously responded to "Vijesti's" questions about Mandić's opinion on the Proposal for a Resolution and whether it is acceptable to him.

The Democratic Montenegro party announced to "Vijesti" yesterday that the party's parliamentary club did not participate in the drafting of the initiative, so it will not participate in the drafting of the text of any potential resolution proposal, but will only state its position once the Proposal for a Resolution, by the MPs, enters parliamentary procedure.

The Bosniak Party will, as previously announced, when the resolution on the genocide in Šahovići comes on the agenda in the Parliament, take a position on it through its party bodies, primarily considering the interest of the Bosniak people who gave them the mandate to politically represent them in Montenegro, but also considering the interest of the Bosniak people in a broader context.

Member of the Presidency of the Social Democrats (SD) Nihad Canović previously stated that he believes that a consensus will be reached in the Parliament of Montenegro on the content of the Resolution, thereby clearly defining its stance on the crime in Šahovići.

"The event in which unarmed Bosniak population perished under peacetime conditions deserves to be characterized by institutions in a just manner, and the victims and their families deserve that after a century this cruel act is treated adequately," Canović stated.

MP and leader of the Democratic People's Party (DNP) Milan Knežević previously said in an interview for TV Adria that his party will not support this resolution not because, as he says, they want to relativize or question any crime committed against the Muslim population, but because they believe that at this moment it contributes neither to reconciliation nor to the path towards the EU.