Non-governmental organizations and civic activists call on the State Prosecutor’s Office and the Police Directorate to immediately inform the public about the progress of the investigation into the violent disruption of the screening of the film “The Stork.”

It has already been seven days since hooligans stopped the showing of Isa Qosja’s film at the Džada Film Fest (DžFF), solely because it was in the Albanian language. To this day, the police have not issued an official statement on what measures and actions were taken to identify the hooligans and why they have not yet been prosecuted. We are surprised by the slow response of state authorities to such a dangerous outburst of hatred and to a case of particular public importance.

If the public does not receive complete and timely answers to these questions, doubts about the integrity of the competent authorities will be justified.

When it comes to incidents of national, religious, and linguistic intolerance, a policy of impunity and silence from institutions must not be an option.

Finally, we express concern about the lack of public condemnation from numerous institutions responsible for the social climate — from the Prime Minister to the state institutions that were sponsors of the festival: the Capital City administration, the Ministry of Culture and Media, and the Ministry of Tourism, as well as the Ministry of Justice given the importance of combating hate speech for EU accession negotiations under Chapter 23. Their silence sends a message that violence and hate speech can be tolerated.

Signatories:
Human Rights Action (HRA)
Association SPEKTRA
Centre for Civic Education (CCE)
Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG)
Women Rights Center (WRC)
Ipso Facto

Civic activists:
Dina Bajramspahić
Jovana Marović
Paula Petričević