A seven-year-old child was hurt.
A special police force used tear gas in the town of Plevlja in northern Montenegro against demonstrators demanding the release of an Orthodox bishop detained by the authorities. This was reported on Wednesday by the portal In4s.
According to the resource, law enforcement officers clashed with the protesters in the central streets of the city, after which the police used tear gas and a seven-year-old child was injured. The portal publishes videos of people scattering in a cloud of smoke. The protesters chant “Shame! Fascists!” In the city you can hear the claps, like gunshots.
In the second largest city in the country, Nikshiche police used tear gas and light-noise grenades against protesters. According to Vijesti portal, on Wednesday, protesters demanded the release of Bishop Ioanikija of Budimlia-Niksichi.
According to the resource, clashes between police and protesters began in the city center. Stones flew in the direction of law enforcement officers, the police used light-noise grenades and tear gas. A large number of protesters were detained, including Velisa Kadic, journalist for the Serbian newspaper Vecernje Novosti.
Earlier Wednesday, the police used tear gas against demonstrators blocking the highway near the town of Berane. According to the portal, political opponents of the authorities are being arrested all over the country.
Detention of the Bishop
On Wednesday night, the Prosecutor’s Office of Montenegro detained Bishop Ioaniki of Budimljansko-Niksic, as well as priests of the diocese for 72 hours after the accusations of violations of the epidemiological regime. Thousands of parishioners of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) stood up for the clergy, as a result of which clashes between the parishioners and law enforcement officers almost reached the point. A special police force was pulled to the site of the demonstration, and the police warned people that they were ready to use tear gas. On April 12, the police detained Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro-Primorska after a divine service in the Zlatitsa Monastery.
Prior to the Coronavirus epidemic, parishioners of the Serbian Orthodox Church held mass actions in Montenegro to protest against the oppression of the SPCA in the country: on the night of December 27, 2019, the Parliament of the country adopted the Law on Freedom of Religion and Belief and Legal Status of Religious Communities. 45 deputies out of 45 present voted in support of the law and the document was considered after all opposition deputies were detained by the police. On 28 December, the law was signed by the President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic.
Djukanovic accuses the Serbian Orthodox Church of trying to preserve the religious monopoly in the country. He said that he would seek autocephaly for the Montenegrin church, following the example of Ukraine. It was in the framework of the creation of the new church that the Montenegrin Cabinet of Ministers passed through parliament a law on religious freedom, which provides for the seizure of church property from the SPCA. This includes more than 650 shrines, including the Ostrog Monastery, which is famous in the Orthodox world.