MIP Presents on the ICTY Legacy at Creative Fest Montenegro

On 6 November 2025, the Mechanism Information Programme for Affected Communities (MIP) took part in the Second International Festival of Culture, Art, Heritage and Creative Industries, titled “Creative Fest Montenegro.” The festival is being held in Petrovac, Montenegro, from 3 to 9 November 2025, and is organized by the Association for Cultural Development Bauo.

MIP researcher Nemanja Stjepanović delivered an online presentation on the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) during a session entitled “Dealing with the Past.” In his presentation, Mr. Stjepanović discussed the importance of judicially established facts before the ICTY and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (the Mechanism), as well as the significance of witness testimonies and supporting evidence on which those findings are based. He also showcased judicial records held in the Mechanism online judicial archives (Unified Court Records), including documents, photographs, intercepted communications, and video recordings.

Alongside Mr. Stjepanović, the session also featured Kristina Žugić from the Youth Initiative for Human Rights Montenegro and Ivan Radulović from Civic Alliance in Podgorica. Ms. Žugić and Mr. Radulović spoke about Montenegro’s wartime legacy, the process of dealing with the past, and the prosecution of war crimes in the country.

Mr. Stjepanović’s participation in the Petrovac festival forms part of MIP’s ongoing efforts to support initiatives and events implemented by civil society organizations engaged in transitional justice across the region of the former Yugoslavia.

The aim of MIP is to enhance public knowledge and understanding in the countries of the former Yugoslavia about the crimes committed during the 1990s conflicts, based on the jurisprudence of the ICTY and the Mechanism.

The MIP is funded by the European Union.