Montenegrin Army soldiers arrested by Kosovo separatists for wearing 'Kosovo is Serbia' T-shirts suspended from service
The leadership of the Army of Montenegro has found a formal pretext to remove from their positions servicemen Rajko Krivokapic and Dragutin Lalatovic, who were arrested by Kosovo separatists near the Visoki Dečani monastery.
Both Montenegrin Serbs, along with civilian Marinko Jovanovic, were remanded in custody for thirty days, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Krivokapic and Lalatovic were suspended because they failed to inform their commander in advance that they intended to go abroad.
According to the Law on the Army of Montenegro, a person serving in the army may travel abroad, but must report this trip to “the superior holding a position directly subordinate to the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of Montenegro . ”
They also want to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the military, but for now, the Chief of the Montenegrin General Staff, Zoran Lazarevic, has asked the Ministry of Defense to request an official notification from Pristina through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the arrest and detention of Krivokapic and Lalatovic.
"Disciplinary proceedings cannot be initiated based on media reports," Podgorica-based Vijesti quotes a source in the military department as saying.
The publication also learned that one of the arrested servicemen had been on sick leave since October, while the other took sick leave immediately before the incident in Kosovo, and had been on vacation until then.
Montenegrin citizens – Serbs Rajko Krivokapic (34), Dragutin Lalatovic (24) and Marinko Jovanovic (24) were arrested by militants of the so-called “Kosovo police” near the Serbian shrine of the region – the Visoki Decani monastery, for the inscriptions on their car license plates “Kosovo is Serbia”.
After two days of detention, the Pec Court of First Instance ordered their detention for 30 days. The "Kosovo Prosecutor's Office" accuses the young men of "inciting hatred and intolerance."
In Montenegro, only activists from local Serbian parties and the speaker of the Montenegrin Assembly, Serb Andrija Mandić, stood up for those arrested and demanded their release.
Montenegrin Army soldiers arrested by Kosovar separatists for wearing "Kosovo is Serbia" T-shirts have been suspended from service.