Last Saturday, 24 September, in the Stari Aerodrom settlement of the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, a young man was brutally beaten by three male perpetrators – report the Montenegrin LGBTIQ+ organizations. Criminal charges against the three perpetrators whose identity is known to the police were yesterday filed to the Basic Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica.
Despite that the victim is not a member of the LGBTIQ+ community, but an avid supporter and ally in their combat for equal rights, the attack was motivated by hatred based on perceived sexual orientation which once again shows that not only LGBTIQ+ people are victims of such severe attacks, but also friends, family members and supporters of LGBTIQ+ people.
The minor with initials J.M. at the time of the attack was walking with his sister, also a minor, in the street “Admiral Zmajević“ towards the “Voli” market when a “Wolksvagen Golf” car approached them. One of the persons inside the car yelled “Faggot!!” which J.M. replied to. The vehicle then moved away towards the elementary school “Pavle Rovinski” only to come back again after a little while. The driver stopped the vehicle, the fellow passenger got out, called J.M. and grabbed him by his neck.
J.M. unsuccessfully tried to defend himself and pushed the attacker away which failed as the attacker was corpulent. The attacker turned to J.M. who was lying on the pavement, grabbed him by the head, and struck his head on the concrete several times, which caused the victim severe head injuries. Once J.M. managed to push the attackers from himself, he got several more fists in the head and kicks in his ribs.
The attackers moved away with their car again only to come back after some time, threatening both J.M. and his sister that in case the police knocks on their doors, the three sisters of J.M. will be buried. In the meantime, J.M. managed to call the police and reported the registration plate number of the vehicle of the attackers several times.
Severe bodily injuries to the head and the ribs of J.M. were found in the medical report at the Emergency Unit of the Clinical Center of Montenegro. “Queer Montenegro”, “Montenegro Pride” and “Juventas” together with the mother – the legal representative of J.M. will vigilantly monitor the actions of the competent institutions during the prosecution of this case of hate crime.
With regard to the manner of execution of the attack, and taking into account all the circumstances and facts, “Queer Montenegro”, “Montenegro Pride” and “Juventas” emphasize that this brutal assault constitute a clear case of criminal offense committed out of hatred and they expect that the act will be qualified as such, and that the intolerance and hatred of the perpetrators toward people who are supposedly or actually members of the LGBTIQ+ community will be clearly taken into account as an aggravating circumstance when deciding on their sentence.
ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey joins the appeal of the Montenegrin LGBTIQ+ organisations toward the police, the prosecutors, and the courts of Montenegro to urgently process this case, use all legal means so that the perpetrators of this brutal assault are brought to justice, and they are sanctioned with the maximum penalty as prescribed by law, so that future similar acts are prevented.