Bishop Joanikije of Budimlye-Niksic and priests from Niksic, Montenegro, after being interrogated at the Niksic Security Center, have been detained by the prosecutor for up to 72 hours.
According to the announcement of the diocese, after the interrogation at the Niksic Security Center, and then by the prosecutor, Bishop Joanikije of Budimlye-Niksic and the priests of the city of Niksic have been detained for up to 72 hours.
About 2 o’clock after midnight, the Bishop was brought to the Provincial State Prosecutor’s Office, where he and the priests after longer than 2 hours of interrogation were ordered into custody. The priests of the Niksic Cathedral, Danilo Zirojevic, Zeljko Rojevic, Ostoja Knezevic, Mirko Vukotic, Vasilije Brboric, Dragan Krusic and Nikola Marojevic, have been detained for up to 72 hours as well. Priest Slobodan Jokic was not interrogated because he was in the hospital.
The announcement mentions that after the cross procession in Niksic, on the occasion of the consecration of the church to the dedicated to St Basil of Ostrog, that was not planned, nor did the Bishop or any of the priests invite the people who gathered in large numbers and on their own initiative in front of the Niksic Cathedral, quite a number of police officers in “marica” came to summon the Bishop and the clergy.
The Bishop and the clergy were taken from the Niksic Security Center to the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office at c. 2 a.m. The priests, on behalf of Saint Basil of Ostrog, called upon the gathered people to be calm and not to disturb the police in any way.
Source: Diocese of Budimlye-Niksic
