Honor and the Elections

The Montenegrin public at large was astonished by the news of an incident in Hotel Montenegro which occurred at midnight of June 4, when, according to the announcement issued by Miroslav Vickovic, President of the Liberal Alliance, the brother of the President of Montenegro, Aleksandar Djukanovic, a.k.a. "Aco", together with Vladislav Jabucanin, a.k.a. "Paja",  inflicted grievous bodily harm upon a member of the Liberal Alliance Community Council for Podgorica, Zoran Kljajic.  As Vickovic stated, Djukanovic and Jabucanin brutally beat up Kljajic with the buts of their handguns, inflicting grievous bodily injury to his person.  Mr. Kljajic was subsequently underwent emergency surgical procedure at the Neurosurgery Clinic in Podgorica for fractures to the skull and pressure to the brain membrane.  Vickovic called upon the Minister of Police of Montenegro to arrest the perpetrators, noting that this merely one of a series of attacks directed against the Liberal Alliance.

Already by next day, all media in Montenegro reported that Jabucanin and Djukanovic had been arrested and are in jail.  The Prosecuting Judge of the Municipal Court of Podgorica issued a statement in which announced that he issued warrants for the arrest of Jabucanin and Djukanovic, and that Jabucanin is under indictment for inflicting grievous bodily harm, while Djukanovic is under indictment for taking part in the fight.  Shortly after, Aleksandar Djukanovic issued a statement through his lawyer, not denying at any moment the fact that he took part in the physical altercation with Kljajic, but explaining that he and Jabucanin reported themselves to the police at their own initiative several hours after the fight, at which point they were placed under arrest.  Djukanovic explained that he was not even aware of the fact that Zoran Kljajic is a member of the Liberal Alliance, and denied all political connotations which are being hoisted upon this incident, for he insisted that he merely entered into a physical altercation with a citizen of Montenegro, a man with a name and surname.  The reason for the altercation dates to a conflict from earlier, and Djukanovic strained to ignore the verbal taunting from Kljajic, but was unable to restrain himself when the latter "proceeded to insult the honor of my family - my aged mother, my sister and my sister-in-law - I reacted in the only way I knew how, in a manner befitting every Montenegrin and every many who values his honor and the honor of his own family.  I am ready to suffer all the legal consequences for my actions, and aim to react in like manner to similar insults directed against me by Kljajic, or by anyone else," Aco Djukanovic stated.

At the present time it is not certain how long Jabucanin and Djukanovic will stay in jail, and it is even more uncertain how they will fair in court.  All that is certain for now is that the grievously injured Zoran Kljajic is recuperating in hospital and that he is pleasantly surprised by the news that Jabucanin and Djukanovic have been arrested.  The citizens of Montenegro are equally caught of guard by this news, many of whom are asking themselves how did it come to pass that the President of State allowed his brother to be put in jail and did not do anything for the fight and the entire incident to be covered up.  The impression is that the affair which promised to shake up the entire ruling coalition has resulted in an entirely different effect.  For the word among the people of Montenegro is that the lawful order of things is in place - the injured party is in hospital while the perpetrators are in jail, by contrast with the all-too-frequent case in this country in which the injured parties end up in jail, while the perpetrators continue to roam freely.