The detention of Montenegrin director Danilo Marunović by the BIA is a nationally motivated persecution and a brutal violation of fundamental rights
The Academy for Democratic Development strongly condemns the detention of Montenegrin director and intellectual Danilo Marunović by agents of the Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) in Belgrade.
The intrusion of BIA agents into Mr. Marunović’s hotel room and his subsequent forced interrogation without any legal basis constitutes a brutal violation of fundamental human rights, a politically motivated act of repression, and an attempt to intimidate artists, intellectuals, and free-thinking individuals in Serbia.
This is not an isolated incident—it is part of a broader and alarming pattern of ethnically motivated persecution targeting citizens from Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina who come to Serbia. The regime of Aleksandar Vučić continues to foster an atmosphere of hostility toward individuals from the region who do not conform to his nationalist narrative, pushing Serbia further away from core democratic and European values, and closer to the authoritarian model of Putin’s Russia.
Danilo Marunović is a well-known artist and vocal critic of ethno-nationalism, hatred, and war. It is precisely because of this that he has become a target. His detention clearly signals that freedom of expression, artistic creativity, and regional cooperation are no longer welcome in Serbia under this government.
We call upon the domestic and international public, human rights organizations, artistic associations, and all relevant actors to respond urgently to this scandal. We demand an official explanation from Serbian institutions and guarantees that such acts of repression against citizens from neighboring countries will not be repeated.
The Academy for Democratic Development expresses full solidarity with Danilo Marunović and with all citizens of the region who are subjected to politically and ethnically motivated persecution by the regime in Serbia.
Novi Sad, June 27, 2025
Photo: Svetlana Babić
