It is devastating to learn that only in 2025, and thanks to the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, facts about the omissions of the Ministry of Interior and the Police Directorate concerning the first mass killing in Cetinje in 2022 are finally coming to light.

Had those omissions been identified and adequately addressed earlier, omissions that contributed to the Medovina massacre in 2022, perhaps January 2025 would not have happened—or at least there would not have been so many victims.

The state had a duty to take the right to life much more seriously, by applying adequate and timely preventive measures, and the Protector has responsibly pointed this out.

It has become evident that the tendency of competent state bodies—the Ministry of Interior, the Police Directorate, and the State Prosecutor’s Office—to tolerate and obscure the omissions of state officials poses a significant danger to the lives of citizens. Had the truth been confronted in a timely manner, and had there been an increase in the number of police officers, lives might have been saved.

In his opinion, the Protector emphasized that by failing to ensure a sufficient number of police officers and adequately train them for effective reaction in emergency situations such as the one in Medovina in 2022, the Police Directorate failed to secure the right to life of those who perished in that massacre. Unfortunately, by January 2025, when the new mass killing occurred, the number of police officers had not been increased, and it is questionable whether anything else had been done. Accordingly, it is clear that the state violated the right to life of the victims of the 2025 massacre in an even more serious manner, since by then the Protector had already warned at least twice—in 2020 and again in 2023—about the insufficient number of police officers.

A major question remains: are we safe today from the same omissions?

The opinion of the Protector confirms that the families of the victims always had well-founded reasons to protest and the right to demand answers about police conduct, questions which remained unanswered.

The Protector concluded that, due to inadequate actions of the competent authorities, the victims’ right to life was violated both before and after the killings—the perpetrator’s weapon, with which he later committed the murders, was not confiscated in time; there were not enough police officers in Cetinje; their equipment did not function; there were delays in recording and responding to citizens’ calls; the engagement of the special unit was delayed, and so forth.

Despite the fact that the perpetrator had previously been convicted of violent behavior and that there were indications he posed a danger to his surroundings, the competent institutions failed to take effective measures to disarm him or prevent the crime.

Particularly concerning is the approach of the State Prosecutor’s Office, which did not even hear the testimony of the injured family before dismissing their criminal complaint against the police for negligent work in office. By acting in this way, the state prosecutor not only acted contrary to international human rights standards, but also appeared as a protector of the police, showing no interest in the victims’ perspective, contrary to both his mandate and the principle of humanity.

Instead of conducting a full and transparent investigation, both the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office and the police’s Internal Control Unit concluded that there were no grounds for initiating proceedings against those responsible, thereby further deepening the mistrust of both the victims’ families and the Montenegrin public.

HRA and WRC submitted a petition to the Council for Civilian Oversight of Police Operations as early as 24 January 2025, but that seven months later, the Council has still not published its opinion. The purpose of the petition was precisely to establish the relevant facts and assess the conduct of the Police Directorate, in order to improve the protection of the right to life and citizens’ security. We expect the Council for Civilian Oversight of Police Operations to publish its opinion on police conduct in the context of the Cetinje killings of 1 January this year without further delay.

Once again, we call on Prime Minister Spajić to listen to the families who have suffered the most tragic losses and to respond to their demands by taking into account all experiences and knowledge regarding the circumstances of both events.

We also request that he inform the public about the results of the measures he announced at the press conference of 3 January 2025, especially regarding the suppression of illegal possession of weapons and amendments to the Law on Weapons, which had been among our earlier demands.

We further demand the following:

•that the competent authorities fully implement the recommendations of the Protector and ensure a new, impartial, and effective investigation of all circumstances and omissions in the Medovina crime, and that responsibility be established at all levels—from those who allowed the perpetrator to keep his weapon, to those who failed to react in a timely manner on 12 August 2022, as well as on 1 January 2025;
•that adequate inclusion of the victims’ families in the investigations be ensured, in accordance with international human rights standards; cover-ups and formalistic closures of cases without explanation would constitute a continuation of violence against the victims’ families and a threat to public trust in institutions;
•that weapons be immediately and temporarily confiscated from any person against whom criminal proceedings are initiated for a violent offense;
•that the health sector be adequately strengthened to provide support in the field of mental health.

The Cetinje crimes must mark a turning point in building a responsible and efficient state that protects the lives of all citizens. Until that happens, we insist on truth, accountability, and changes that will prevent such tragedies from ever happening again.