Written by Stevo Vasiljevic
PODGORICA (Reuters) – Hundreds of Montenegrins protested in the capital Podgorica on Friday against what they see as failure by authorities to prevent a mass shooting in which a gunman killed 12 people and seriously wounded four.
In one of the Balkan nation's worst mass killings, 45-year-old Ako Martinovic went on a rampage Wednesday afternoon after drinking heavily in the small town of Cetinje and managing to elude police for several hours.
Among those he shot was his sister. He later shot himself with his gun, and died early Thursday from his wounds.
The protest coincided with the current session of the country's National Security Council, which adopted a set of stricter gun controls.
After the session, Prime Minister Milojko Spaić said registered gun owners would now have a year to pass medical and psychological tests as a precondition for renewing their licences.
“Anyone who fails to pass the tests…the (weapon) permit will be canceled and the weapons will be confiscated,” Spajic said at a press conference in Podgorica.
He also said authorities would launch a two-month gun amnesty, allowing those with illegal weapons to hand them in without fear of prosecution, or face “severe punishment” if they are caught afterward.
“Those who do not hand over (illegal weapons) will face severe penalties… They will end up in prison,” he added.
Many Montenegrins are angry about what they see as slow reform of an understaffed and under-resourced police force, and bureaucratic and political disagreements within the government.
To bolster depleted police ranks, the government also plans to hire 200 additional police officers, Spaich said.
Demands for resignations
Protesters in Podgorica initially stood in silence to remember the victims of the shooting and then hurled insults at police who surrounded the government building in the city centre. Some demonstrators tried to break through the security fence.
The demonstrators raised banners reading, “Your regime is corrupt” and “Your hands are stained with blood.” They hung roses with black ribbons on the fence in a gesture of mourning.
They are demanding the resignation of senior officials, including Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic and Police Director Lazar Šepanovic.
Šepanovic said Thursday that the police response to the shooting was delayed because of misinformation that sent the first patrol to the wrong location.
One of the demonstrators shouted: “As honorable men, you must come out and tell us what is happening in your system… Otherwise, such a tragedy may knock on all of our doors tomorrow.”
This is the second mass shooting in less than three years in Cetinje, 38 kilometers west of Podgorica. In August 2022, a gunman killed 10 people, including two children, before being shot dead.
Spaich said that the Ministry of Interior will now be tasked with forming a rapid response air team to improve the response to such emergencies.
Montenegro, a small republic on the Adriatic Sea with a population of just 633,000, has a deep-rooted gun culture.
Like other Western Balkan countries – Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia – Montenegro is also full of illegal weapons, most of them from the bloody wars of the 1990s.
