One year since the second massacre in Cetinje: The day Montenegro fell silent again

On this day, exactly one year ago, a massacre occurred in Cetinje. On January 1st of 2025, Aco Martinović killed 13 people, including two children, then took his own life, while injuring four others.

After three days of mourning, the Government of Montenegro made major promises. On January 3rd, the Montenegrin public was informed that the Government’s key measure would be the adoption of a new Law on Weapons.

According to Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, the new law would introduce renewed checks of permits for those who legally own weapons, as well as penalties for those who fail to surrender illegal weapons within the following two months.

The mass crime in Cetinje was committed using illegal weapons. Aco Martinović, who killed 13 people, had his illegal weapons confiscated in 2022. As a result, at the end of 2024 he was sentenced to three months in prison, a verdict he appealed.

Protests and unmet demands

On January 3rd, while a session of the Government of Montenegro was underway, several hundred citizens gathered in front of the Government building, demanding the dismissal of the political leadership of the security sector.

Protests were announced for the days that followed as well. Citizens stated that the killings in Cetinje required a serious examination of responsibility and the readiness of the security system. The January 1st massacre was the second multiple homicide in Cetinje within the last two and a half years.

It should be recalled that on August 12th of 2022, Vuk Borilović killed 10 fellow citizens and wounded six others, after which he was killed.

Several non-governmental organizations, a number of media outlets, and many citizens asked what had changed in the security system from 2022 until today.

The informal student group „Kamo śutra“ began organizing protests and road blockades on January 5th, demanding the dismissal of security sector leaders due to what they described as police failures in the handling of the January 1st crime in Cetinje.

The first major protest was held on January 5th in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Podgorica, organized the day after the three-day period of mourning in Montenegro. According to police estimates, several thousand people attended the protest.

Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and other members of the Government rejected the demands of students and citizens, who, among other things, called for the dismissal of Minister of Internal Affairs Danilo Šaranović and Deputy Prime Minister for Security Aleksa Bečić.

At the time, the Government stated that „resignation is an act of moral and objective responsibility“, and that all members of the Government were „subject to change after an analysis of their performance“.

Political pressure and daily targeting of the informal student group eventually had an effect. As early as April, „Kamo śutra“ announced that it was ceasing its activities. They acknowledged that their struggle had failed because it had been systematically undermined from the very beginning, „which diverted attention away from the crimes themselves, for which no one has yet taken responsibility, nor, it seems, feels it“.

Part of the media and the political actors from which the top of the security system originates did everything to compromise the student protests and portray them as politically motivated.

Citizens of Cetinje began their protests by blocking the road at Kruševo Ždrijelo, expressing support for the students from „Kamo śutra“. However, after that group ceased its activities, citizens of Cetinje decided to continue the protests on their own, blocking traffic every day for two hours.

The dismissal of Jokić

For months, citizens demanded justice and accountability from the competent authorities on a daily basis. One of their demands was the dismissal of the then head of the Regional Security Center “Center” Goran Jokić.

After the police confirmed on December 5th that Jokić was no longer the head of the RSC „Center“, the group of citizens announced that they would temporarily suspend the protests, stating that this small victory was only a step toward what would follow through court and other proceedings.

Unfortunately, as the group stated in its announcement, it took institutions and those most responsible ten months, after silence and an dismissive attitude toward the protests, to sanction only one link in the chain of responsibility for a series of failures related to the two crimes.

On the other hand, they said they had shown that perseverance, in the spirit of Montenegrin endurance, produces results, and emphasized that they would not stop there.

- We believe that judicial institutions and the Ministry of Justice will take into account our determination and persistence, as well as the gravity of the case before them, and that they will not force us to return to Kruševo Ždrijelo. Unlike those whose goal was for this city to fade away, we stand for life - for life to continue and to be the highest value. Therefore, in light of the upcoming, for us painful, Christmas and New Year holidays, we are temporarily suspending the protest, with the message that our small victory is only a step toward what will happen through judicial and other processes - they said in a public statement.

They thanked everyone who supported them, both from Cetinje and from every Montenegrin city, in any way, including those who, as they said, stepped out of lines of stopped vehicles, stood for a few minutes, and offered words of support.

- It meant a lot. We also thank those who gave our protest its initial impulse, when we gathered in much larger numbers. We owe special gratitude to the members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro, who managed the road blockade in a professional and, above all, humane manner throughout its duration - they concluded in their statement.