A small number of police officers on duty in Cetinje, poor organization on the ground, a murderer who has already been caught with illegal weapons - these are just some of the shortcomings of the Montenegrin system.
Only nine policemen it guarded the whole of Cetinje On January 1, when Aco Martinović killed 12 people, and the police even spent half an hour - in the wrong location chasing the killer.
"A crazed man was walking around the center." Cetinje and killed unhindered, far from the police," Milka Tadić Mijović, director of the Center for Investigative Journalism, explains to Vreme.
"It turned out that the officers were in a completely different place in the city."
While three days of mourning continue in Montenegro, these are only the most obvious, but definitely not the only omissions that follow the massacre in Cetinje.
In addition to the deceased, four more people were injured in the tragedy, and one person is in serious condition, according to the Clinical Center of Montenegro.
Nine police officers "protect" 20.000 people
At the moment when it was reported that there was a shooting in a tavern in Cetinje and that there were several wounded, the whole of Cetinje was guarded by a maximum of nine policemen, write "Vijesti" from Podgorica.
The city police said that they received a false report, which most likely enabled the killer to kill 12 fellow citizens with an unlicensed gun in half an hour.
On January 1, shortly before 17:30 p.m., it was reported to the Cetinje police that there had been a shooting in a city tavern and that there were several wounded. In all of Cetinje, three police patrols were engaged at that moment, an operative inspector, an officer in the duty service and a duty officer, acting director of the Police Administration Lazar Šćepanović told "Vijesti".
He also said that it was planned for reinforcements to arrive in Cetinje from 18 p.m., but that this had nothing to do with the tragedy.
(Un)known
It turned out that multiple murderer Aco Martinović (45) had already been sentenced to three months in prison in the first instance because the police confiscated numerous weapons from this man from Cetinje in November 2022.
On the list of unauthorized possession were two air rifles, 43 bullets of different calibers, one larger improvised explosive device of great destructive power and a set for cleaning firearms, the city police confirmed.
"This tragedy shows us, very plastically, how to live in Montenegro," adds Milka Tadić Mijović.
"Just imagine, that man has already been recognized as someone who holds illegal weapons, and proceedings have already been conducted against him. The system just let him down the drain."
Second massacre in two years
Cetinje is facing a new mass crime just two years after Vuk Borilović killed 10 people and wounded six in the Medovina settlement. Two children were among the victims.
After the intervention of the police, Borilović was killed in the exchange of fire. However, the circumstances of his death remained under investigation, and the results were never made public.
"Last time, in November of 2022, many were killed and fingers were pointed," adds Tadić Mijović.
"Nevertheless, no one was responsible for the fact that the crime was not prevented, especially since it turned out that Borilović, like Martinović now, was already recognized as a conflicted personality."
Since the crime in Cetinje's Medovina settlement, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has not implemented the announced changes to the Law on Weapons.
At that time, it was said that one of the priorities would be a review of the situation that would provide clear data - who all in Montenegro has a firearm with a valid permit.
There were also no additional checks for persons who already have a permit for weapons - extraordinary medical examinations, as well as security checks, "Vijesti" writes.
Recognized as a psychiatric patient
The lack of capacity, adds the director of CIN, can be seen in the work of a whole range of services.
Acting Director of the Police Administration Lazar Šćepanović himself said that during the search of Martinović in November 2022, police officers recognized his antisocial behavior and reported it to the Ministry of Health.
However, he was not hospitalized, but only prescribed therapy.
"This is the result of the three-and-a-half-decade destruction of all institutions - security and health, which did not identify Martinović as a person who needs serious psychiatric help," says the journalist.
"Unfortunately, these are heavy and bitter fruits that are ripening here now." I am afraid that it will be very difficult for us to consolidate on our own."
Everyone takes cover
Retired Admiral Dragan Samardžić called for the replacement of the entire political leadership of the security system.
"They say now is not the time, only pain," he told "Vijesti".
"And the pain after Borilović and Balijagić is still going on and tearing apart the system and the victims' families. The silence favors the Government - that it does not disturb the harmony of its armchairs, and the citizens - that it does not disturb their return to 'normal life'. Our daily cry is salt to the wounds of the bereaved."
However, the Cetinje police say that "this criminal act was not organized, but unsurprising and that in no context did members of the Police Administration have any knowledge that Maritnović was planning a bloody feast."
"Already in the first statements of the authorities, we see that they do not understand what responsibility is, that they do not understand that they should pay a certain price," adds the journalist of the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro.
"That is our even greater tragedy."
Similarity with "Ribnikar", Dubon and Mali Orašje
"Destroyed societies, which have lost their normality long ago" - this is how Tadić Mijović describes the situation in Serbia and Montenegro and compares the massacre in Cetinje with the tragedies at Vladislav Ribnikar High School and the villages near Mladenovac, which happened in Serbia in 2023.
A total of 18 people were killed in them, many of whom were children.
"Both authorities, in both countries, have a very similar attitude towards the public interest - these are severely corrupt states that think only of their own benefit," concludes Milka Tadić Mijović.
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A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
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