Human Rights Action (HRA) has submitted a complaint to the Council for Civilian Control of Police Work seeking an assessment of police conduct at public gatherings held in the Podgorica neighborhoods of Zabjelo and City kvart on 27 October 2025, at an anti-migrant rally in front of the Government of Montenegro in Podgorica on 28 October 2025, as well as at the Montenegro–Croatia football match on 17 November 2025 at the City Stadium in Podgorica.

HRA considers that the police, who secured the protests on 27 and 28 October, were obliged to react to the chants “Kill, kill the Turk”, “Turks out” and “We don’t want migrants,” which constituted hate speech, which is prohibited, and which created a threatening atmosphere in the city—especially in the neighborhoods where the highest number of Turkish citizens reside. According to our understanding of the applicable laws (the Law on Public Order and Peace, the Law on Public Assemblies, the Law on Internal Affairs, the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, and the Criminal Code), the police were obliged to warn participants that hate speech is prohibited and to disperse any gathering where participants persisted in using such speech.

We also believe that immediately before and during the Montenegro–Croatia match, the police failed to act in accordance with their obligations and powers under the Law on the Prevention of Violence and Misconduct at Sports Events. During the match, Croatian fans shouted slogans such as “Kill the Serb”, “For the homeland—ready” and “The Ustaša flag is waving” and displayed a large banner reading: “From Dubrovnik jokes can be heard, srb ccksuckers. No forgiveness!” All the slogans—verbal and written—constituted clear hate speech, which the police announced they would process afterward, once the fans had left the country.

However, in such a case—one involving a “high-risk event”—the police are required, in cooperation with the event organizer, to take special preventive measures, specifically: to prevent the bringing in and display of banners containing messages of hate; to detain spectators who behave violently or disturb public order and peace through hate speech; and to request in advance the presence of a misdemeanors judge and a state prosecutor at the match in order to enable efficient processing of perpetrators of misdemeanors and criminal offenses at the event. Nevertheless, the police, in cooperation with the event organizer, failed to prevent the Croatian fans from bringing into the stadium an enormous banner with a hate message, which represents an obvious failure in security measures and the implementation of legal powers. The police were obliged to conduct checks, seize the disputed banner, identify and sanction those responsible, remove them from the venue, or even interrupt the event if the prohibited behavior continued. The absence of a warning or any immediate action in such a situation is a failure—one that repeatedly occurs at sports matches.

Through its complaint, HRA requested that the Council for Civilian Control of Police Work examine police conduct at the mentioned gatherings, so that appropriate responses to hate speech at similar events can be ensured in the future. Specifically, we requested that the Council:

• initiate a procedure to assess the application of police powers at the gatherings in question;
• request from the Police Directorate a report on the presence and actions of officers, including an explanation as to why the gatherings and the match were not interrupted and why participants were not warned about hate speech;
• determine whether police officers recognized and adequately responded to hate speech and the incitement of ethnic hostility;
• examine the responsibility of the commanders and officers in charge of event security if it is established that they failed to act in accordance with the law—especially to determine how Croatian fans were allowed to bring an enormous hate-speech banner into the stadium, despite such material being prohibited by law.

We expect the Council to independently and thoroughly review police conduct within a reasonable timeframe and publish its opinion. We are witnessing increasingly frequent hate speech and nationalist slogans at public and sporting events, to which the police do not respond. It is time for this to stop and for the competent authorities to finally begin consistently enforcing the law.

We also remind that in negotiating Chapter 23, the European Union requires Montenegro to effectively suppress xenophobia and ensure the efficient prosecution of hate crimes, including hate speech.