WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
Choose language:
AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
Actor Tihomir Stanić said that he was ashamed when Montenegrin director Danilo Marunović was detained, who was then expelled from Serbia. He pointed out that the later the authorities call elections, the fewer votes he will receive, and that the appointment of Dragoslav Bokan as the president of the National Theatre's Board of Directors is "a shambles of the authorities", which, according to him, acts like someone sinking in quicksand.
Montenegrin director Danilo Marunović was detained at around 9 am this morning for an informational interview at the premises of the Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA) in Belgrade. After questioning, he was released, but was ordered to leave Serbia immediately.
"It so happened that I am a great friend of Slobodan Marunović, the father of the detained director Danilo Marunović. We had agreed days in advance to meet today. Tonight I am going to see the play The Glembays. His father, a retired actor, was proud that his son's play was playing in Belgrade. He called me today and said that Danilo had been detained. I spent the day with Slobodan Marunović and was with him when, accompanied by a BIA inspector or whoever, Danilo came to the hotel to collect his belongings. Tonight's play at the National Theatre was scheduled six months ago and has nothing to do with tomorrow's protest," Tihomir Stanić told N1.
He added that Danilo Marunović's detention is probably related to his other activity, writing columns for the Analitika portal.
"He is a columnist for the Analitika portal, so it is assumed that he was detained for that reason," Stanić said.
He pointed out that he felt embarrassed when Marunović was taken into custody:
"I am a citizen of Serbia. Such things happen in this country. I personally felt ashamed of what the people in power are doing."
"They have big eyes in fear"
Stanić assessed that the authorities are acting out of fear:
"They have big eyes in fear, and with those eyes they declare children terrorists, they arrest them. They are so scared and so obsessed with preserving their positions, even though they themselves know that they are gone. This government fell on November 1, 2024, when the canopy fell. On that day, the government fell, when the president came out and said that only the canopy was not reconstructed."
He added that the authorities do not call elections because they "know, feel and see that they will lose in those elections".
"They no longer have any support or legitimacy," said Stanić.
"Tonight's performance marked by persecution"
Speaking about the play "The Glembajevi" by Danilo Marunović, Stanić said that tonight will be marked by the arrest and expulsion of the director.
"The authorities will not expel his work. As an artist and director, he will receive a standing ovation tonight. The authorities, with every gesture, at every moment, are creating a new enemy," he assessed.
Regarding the appointment of Dragoslav Bokan to the position of president of the National Theatre's Board of Directors, he said that it was a "senseless move by the authorities."
"It's clear that they don't know what they're doing. It's a struggle, a spite, an attempt to prove an authority they no longer have, especially among artists," Stanić said.
He recalled that the National Theatre was previously led by Svetislav Gončić, who supported Aleksandar Vučić, but that he was a good manager:
"I'm on the opposite political side, but the fact is that he ran that house excellently," Stanić said.
He believes that the authorities could certainly have appointed someone from their own ranks who would be more suitable for the position:
“This is a shambles, like in movies when people sink into quicksand, and they keep floundering and sinking faster and faster. They are only accelerating their inevitable departure.”
“What does Bokan have to do with theater?”
Stanić asked what Dragoslav Bokan had to do with theater.
“He legitimized himself as a militant and aggressive man. He belongs to what they call ‘television,’ a group of broadcasters who worked together on a special show,” he said.
He stated that people from these media outlets “show their primitivism and fascist tendencies every day” and that they are creating panic ahead of the protest.
“They are trying to convince people not to go out on Vidovdan,” Stanić said.
He estimates that the authorities will try to provoke an incident at tomorrow’s protest.
"And many people will come. Regardless, the government has embarked on a path of no return. The later they call elections, the fewer percentages they will receive," Stanić believes.
He also said that he is certain that Dragoslav Bokan will not remain in his position as president of the National Theatre's Board of Directors:
"I heard that the technicians at the theatre said that they would block the entrance. Maybe the police or private security will escort him, but for him to enter normally - that is impossible. They have exceeded every measure," concluded Tihomir Stanić in a state
