Pavle Đurišić was not a hero; he was a commander who ruthlessly ordered and executed one of the most heinous crimes in the annals of Montenegro and Sandžak, remarked Bosniak Party MP Kenana Strujić Harbi.

Her comments came in response to Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who referred to the Chetnik leader Pavle Đurišić as a “great hero” of invincible character.

“Let’s stick to the facts! We must not allow a lie repeated multiple times to become the accepted truth. We must remember and speak clearly about the crimes and their perpetrators to prevent history from repeating itself for future generations! Pavle Đurišić was no hero; he was a commander who heartlessly orchestrated one of the most appalling crimes in Montenegro and Sandžak’s history. In early 1943, his forces initiated a calculated campaign, referred to as the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population in the Montenegrin regions of Sandžak and Eastern Bosnia. According to his own report to Draža Mihailović, nearly 8,000 civilians were slaughtered—without any resistance,” stated the MP.

She noted that current historical research suggests the actual number might be significantly higher.

“A chilling detail—victim lists reveal that over 50% of those killed in the Pljevlja district were children under 14. They were slain in their mothers’ arms, burned alive in their homes, and butchered at their doorsteps—solely due to their Islamic faith! This was not a military action; it was a brutal act of extermination, a textbook case of a crime against humanity! Such information instills disgust and shame for this individual in every decent person, yet tragically, for some, this remains an exception,” Strujić Harbić emphasized.

She characterized Đurišić as a war criminal, collaborator, and traitor.

“His so-called ‘heroism’ was merely the mass execution of women, children, and the elderly, while he was consistently outmatched in serious military confrontations. His cooperation with Italian and German occupiers, along with the Ustashas, exemplifies the ultimate betrayal of his own people! The glorification of such a villain could only be embraced by those who have never engaged with historical documents, testimonies, or literature. The ideology that seeks to elevate such villains to the status of role models or heroes is impoverished, unscrupulous, immoral, and bound to fail,” the statement concludes.

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