Moscow, Dec 29: Hundreds of people took to the streets in several cities of Montenegro to protest against the freshly-signed law on selective nationalization of religious properties, with police restraining protesters in the capital of Podgorica as they attempted blocking the car of the president’s brother, Montenegrin media reported on Sunday.
On Saturday, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic signed into law a bill that will turn estate of religious entities into public property should they fail to prove right to ownership before 1918, the year when Montenegro ceased being independent.
The Serbian Orthodox Church, which is followed by the overwhelming majority of Montenegro’s predominantly Orthodox Christian population, fears its assets such as ancient monasteries and churches can be seized and given to the self-proclaimed Montenegrin Orthodox Church.
“A group of Podgorica residents rallied after an evening service from the Church of Resurrection to the national television building near where they shortly blocked crossroads because of the law on religious communities,” the Montenegrin national broadcaster said.
Police reportedly followed the protesters but did not intervene up until they attempted to block the car of the president’s brother. “Near the building of Vektra company, a group of protesters stopped a car carrying the president’s brother, businessman Aco Djukanovic.
Protesters began chanting ‘Aco is a thief, we will not give up the shrine!’ to which the latter stopped the car and replied to the insults,” the opposition Democratic Front party said on its Facebook page, attaching a video footage.
Law enforcement then pushed teh protesters back to clear the car’s way. Unlike in Podgorica, police detained several people in the second largest city of Niksic and fired tear gas at protesters in the city of Berane upon them attempting to block the traffic, according to the report.
The Democratic Front has earlier pledged to pressure the government into withdrawing the controversial law. For years, Montenegro, as the Diocese of Montenegro and the Littoral, has been part of the canonical, or recognized, Serbian Orthodox Church. In recent years, however, the Government has intensified its support of the noncanonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which proclaimed autocephaly in 1993, accusing the SOC of undermining the country’s sovereignty. (AGENCIES)
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