Non-governmental organizations and civic activists welcome the decision of the Municipal Assembly of Bijelo Polje to revoke the “Risto Ratković” award previously given to convicted war criminal Radovan Karadžić.

Today’s vote in the Municipal Assembly of Bijelo Polje is significant, as it marks the correction of a 32-year-old mistake that has long and unfairly tarnished the reputation of this town and one of Montenegro’s most important cultural events – Ratković’s Poetry Evenings.

This decision is encouraging and sends a strong message that Bijelo Polje will not allow itself to become a place where war criminals convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war are celebrated. Some citizens of Bijelo Polje also lost their lives as a result of that criminal policy. We expect the Council of the public institution “Ratković’s Poetry Evenings” to complete the process of revoking the award without delay.

Bijelo Polje is a town of great literary figures, such as Risto Ratković, Ćamil Sijarić and Marko Vešović—the latter of whom refused to accept the “Risto Ratković” award—as well as many other notable individuals who have contributed to culture and society and by whom the town is recognized. This decision restores dignity both to the town and the award.

Tonight’s session concluded that the only institution that can revoke the award is the one that originally granted it—the Council of the public institution “Ratković’s Poetry Evenings”. This was pointed out in the initiative we submitted to the Council on June 26 of this year. A similar initiative was submitted a day later by the Bosniak Party to the Municipal Assembly of Bijelo Polje, which we saw as important support. Although our initiative was later forwarded to the Assembly, we maintained the position that the public institution, as the legal successor of the earlier form of the event, is the only body legally entitled to revoke the award—a position confirmed in tonight’s conclusion, which accepted our initiative.

We now expect the Council of “Ratković’s Poetry Evenings” to demonstrate integrity and finalize the procedure by amending the official rules within the next 30 days, thereby bringing this process to a close. We remind that the Council took its first symbolic step on July 1, after our second letter, in which we pointed out that Karadžić’s name was still on the list of laureates. At that time, the Council made the decision to remove his name from the list—a symbolic but important correction of the 1993 mistake.

To recall, the “Risto Ratković” award was given to Radovan Karadžić during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at a time when he was the supreme commander of the Army of Republika Srpska. During his stay in his native Montenegro, he was warmly welcomed by the Montenegrin state leadership.

Revoking the award from Karadžić is not an attempt to erase what was done at the time, but rather a clear message that Bijelo Polje remembers the crimes committed in the name of the criminal policy Karadžić represented, and that there is no place for that legacy in Bijelo Polje.

This decision is particularly important at a time when glorification of war criminals and their ideology is increasingly present in Montenegro, as we saw this summer in Petnjica near Šavnik, where Radovan Karadžić was glorified at a gathering attended by Andrija Mandić, the President of the Montenegrin Parliament. Even more troubling is the fact that Želidrag Nikčević, a member of the jury that awarded Karadžić the prize in 1993, is now a political adviser to Mandić and a member of this year’s jury for the Thirteenth of July Award—Montenegro’s highest state recognition—which has been particularly discredited this year.

As a town that has preserved the spirit of unity and respect for diversity even in the most difficult times, Bijelo Polje and the “Ratković’s Poetry Evenings” event should continue to be a place of cultural connection and literary promotion, free from the burden of the crimes of one man.

Signed by:

• Daliborka Uljarević, Center for Civic Education (CCE)

• Tea Gorjanc Prelević, Human Rights Action (HRA)

• Ervina Dabižinović, Center for Women’s and Peace Education ANIMA

• Demir Ličina, Association “Štrpci – Against Oblivion”

• Velija Murić, Montenegrin Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights

• Dina Bajramspahić, Civic Activist

• Jovana Marović, Civic Activist