Monument to Chetnik warlord Pavle Đurišić erected in Berane, authorities announce its removal, one person arrested

(Patria) - In the village of Gornje Zaostro near Berane, in the north of Montenegro, a monument to Pavle Đurišić, a Chetnik commander from World War II who participated in mass killings of the Muslim population, has been erected.

The monument was erected at the site where a gathering of admirers of the Chetnik movement will be held tomorrow.

The Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, which did not give consent for the erection of the monument, sent an inspection that ordered the monument to be removed.

One person has been arrested in connection with the erection of the monument, and the prosecution has opened a case, Radio Free Europe was told by the Municipal Prosecutor's Office in Berane.

"The police have filed a criminal complaint against V.D. from Berane, for the criminal offense of injury and illegal erection of a monument. The suspect has been deprived of liberty and will be brought for questioning by the prosecutor," the prosecution stated.

The President of the Municipality of Berane, Ðole Lutovac, condemned the procedure of erecting the monument, which, he said, was carried out without notifying the authorities and outside legal procedures.

"This is a gross violation of regulations that clearly define that monuments can only be erected in accordance with the Program adopted by the municipal assembly, with the prior consent of the competent state administration body," Lutovac said.

Pavle Đurišić, a Chetnik leader in Montenegro and the region, admitted responsibility for the killing of Muslim civilians in a written report to Draža Mihajlović.

In a report to the Supreme Command of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland, dated February 13, 1943, Đurišić stated: "The action against Muslims in Piva and Gornje Polimlje was completely successful... around 1,200 fighters and up to 8,000 other victims, women, elderly, and children were destroyed among the Muslims".

Đurišić was decorated by the Nazis, i.e., Hitler, with the Iron Cross for his actions. The decision to award him was published in October 1944, with the note that he was "decorated by the Führer".

In Montenegro, it is forbidden by law to erect monuments to proponents of fascism and their accomplices.

Although the monument has not yet been removed, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić praised the efficient reaction of the authorities, which, he stated, shows that the state will not tolerate illegal actions that disturb society.

"Montenegro will be a modern state where laws are respected and where historical facts are not fabricated according to political ambitions," Spajić wrote on platform X.

Previously, the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, called on the authorities to establish responsibility for the erection of the monument and remove it without delay.

"The erection of a monument to a person who symbolizes fascist collaboration, ethnic and religious hatred, and mass crimes against civilians is a direct attempt to rehabilitate an ideology that is contrary to the values of anti-fascist Montenegro," he wrote on network X.

The removal of the monument was also requested by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro and the President of the Bosniak Party, Ervin Ibrahimović.

He stated that the erection of a monument to war criminal and fascist Pavle Đurišić is illegal and unacceptable, reminding that he documented boasting about the operation of "complete destruction of the Muslim population".