Montenegro’s Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica has opened a case against a Serbian Orthodox Bishop after he praised the late convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic during a religious service, the Vijesti newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The prosecutor’s office told the newspaper that the bishop was suspected of inciting national, racial and religious hatred. It did not provide further details about the investigation or say whether Bishop Metodije of Budimlje-Niksic Diocese had been questioned.
The bishop praised Mladic during a service at the Piva Monastery in northern Montenegro on August 28, the day after he died, saying people had recognised in Mladic “all those wonderful and holy qualities of Serbian warriors and knights.
May the most holy Mother of God …
“May the most holy Mother of God … raise his soul among all the holy Serbian knights, the famous general Ratko,” Metodije said, according to a recording and transcript published by local media.
The diocese later published a statement on its website saying that, after the liturgy, a memorial service had been held for “the newly departed servant of God, General Ratko Mladic”.
At the same time, Montenegro’s Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Bijelo Polje has dismissed criminal complaints against Metodije over speeches praising a notorious World War II-era Nazi-alligned commander, Pavle Djurisic, held responsible for mass killings during the war, Vijesti reported on Tuesday.
Mladic, who died on August 27, while serving
Mladic, who died on August 27, while serving a life sentence at the UN detention facility in the Hague, commanded Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia. He was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by a United Nations tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The tribunal found him responsible for various crimes including the 1995 massacre of more than 8,000 Bosniaks in Srebrenica – Europe’s worst atrocity since World War II, and the prolonged siege of Sarajevo.
Mladic remains a hero to many Serbs, while victims’ families and survivors regard him as responsible for some of the 1992-95 Bosnian war’s gravest crimes.
Montenegro, a NATO member and candidate for European Union membership, has laws criminalising the incitement of ethnic, racial and religious hatred.
Source: balkaninsight.com
