Montenegro’s Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica has opened a case against Metropolitan Metodije of Budimlje and Nikšić over remarks in which he praised convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić during a ceremony at Piva Monastery.
The case concerns the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred, according to the prosecutor’s office.
“We inform you that, following a review of the official records of the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica, it was established that a case has been opened against Metropolitan Metodije of Budimlje and Nikšić for the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred,” the prosecution said in a response cited by Vijesti.
Metodije delivered the remarks on August 28 at Piva Monastery, shortly after Mladić’s death.
During his speech, the metropolitan said that the Serbian people had recognized in Mladić “all those beautiful and holy qualities of Serbian warriors and knights.”
“May the Most Holy Mother of God, whose Dormition we celebrate, raise his soul among all the holy Serbian knights, the renowned General Ratko,” Metodije said.
The Budimlje-Nikšić Eparchy also said that following the liturgy, a memorial service was held for the “newly departed servant of God, General Ratko Mladić.”
Mladić, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His life sentence was upheld on appeal in 2021.
His death and subsequent state-linked commemorations in Serbia and Republika Srpska have triggered widespread criticism across the region and from European and international officials.
The Montenegrin prosecution’s decision adds Metodije’s remarks to a broader debate over the glorification of convicted war criminals and the legal limits surrounding hate speech and the denial or celebration of atrocities committed during the wars of the 1990s.
The case is now expected to determine whether the metropolitan’s statements meet the legal threshold for criminal responsibility under Montenegrin law.
