The Trigger is Cocked

Montenegrin television announced in its main news program on Wednsday evening that two inhabitants of Pljevlja had been arrested for possession of weapons and explosives.

The authorities saw the incident as an opportunity to show that a state of law is functioning in Pljevlja and registrated two points for the local police. However, only several days earlier, the same police unquetionably accepted an evaluation of Chetnik Major Ceko Dacevic that they had made a mistake and released a group and released a group of ten of his menwith whom special police units had had a fight the night before.

Since no one had informed the authorities that the ten were being released, no one even thought of bringing the offenders before the magistrates' court to judge serif Cengic after their release by "invisible liberators". After processing the charges for the ten, judge Cengic was stunned to see a group of citizens outside the Court building and hear them chanting:"Ustashi, red bandits" and so on. Judge Cengic estimated there were around 1,000 people and was uncertain whether to hold a trial under the circumstances. Assessing there were not enough guards and that the police were helpless, he went to the republican court for consultations. When he returned, the offenders had disappeared and no one could tell him who released them and why.

"I demand the release of the brethren whom I disarmed," Dacevic said. After that, 1,000 people "spontaneously" gathered and the "invisible liberators" went into action. Dacevic also threatened: everyone who made a mistake in the incident must leave Pljevlja, particularly the police who came as reinforcements. Otherwise, the occupation of Pljevlja might be repeated.

It seems the police took the threat seriously and decided to say nothing. Our sources claim the police already regret they reacted in the first place and clashed with the group of wanton youths whose night on the town resulted in several explosions and damaged cafes.

The group attracted the attention of the police at around 2-3 o'clock in the morning. There were no contacts with the police in the first cafe, so one was inevitable in the second, but only after the special police could no longer stomach the insults and attacks. The lengthy fight, accompanied by screaming and shooting, ended with Cekovic's men getting the dirty end of the stick, and the police learning a lesson. According to their colleagues, the policemen who took part in the fighting feel like moving targets.

Ceko Dacevic stopped the disarmament. Montenegrin media highlighted the turning over of several "ancient" guns. The make was not seen when Pljevlja was occupied, and the weapons which have been turned over are less than one-fifth of the arms seen at a lightly-guarded barricade in Pljevlja. Dacevic justified his decision by saying that "all citizens should be disarmed, not only Serbs." This is being linked with the arrest of two Moslems. This, coupled with the accompanying media attention, is seen as an attempt to win over Dacevic, by making it clear that the police are not there to protect only Moslems which is one of the most frequent remarks set out by Dacevic and some other party leaders.

The question is, however, how long will the fragile peace last or for how long will the "tragic consequences be avoided".
Mistrust and fear of the worst is mounting and even getting fuelled by the goings-on in the streets of Pljevlja. A group of citizens were stunned to see Ceko Dacevic's overloaded car accompanied by a jeep belonging to the Army of Yugoslavia, not far from the special untis' base, going in the direction of the Pljevlja thermo-electric power plant. The police did not even search the car, although this is routine practice, and people are now asking what was Dacevic transporting and why did he need an "escort". Police are calling on citizens to help in the disarmament, but people have begun to realize that police do not want help. The people have identified and named all those who sealed off Pljevlja, but the authorities have done nothing against those who commit petty crimes, let alone those who took the last drops of gasoline from the local gas station.

Pljevlja is, thus, completely controlled by Ceko Dacevic and his men. It must be said that they are seldom seen carrying arms, but songs about the butchering of Turks can be heard from local taverns and Orthodox Christians are "advised" not to talk to Moslems. It so happened that Ceko Dacevic, seeing a retired professor talking to a Moslem, told the professor's nephew to tell his uncle he should not do that again.

Both the people and police are afraid. Police say they can do nothing. "We don't stand a chance," a policeman told VREME ,"because you can never be sure from which direction the danger is coming - whether the illegally armed ones or some who are paid to protect law and order. Big divisions are underway and I think that an energetic action would ignite the fure for a war, not only in Pljevlja, but all of northern Montenegro and elsewhere. They are armed with too many sophisticated and deadly guns, and it seems they are better equipped than the army and police. A clash is inevitable, the only question is when."