The president of the local HDMS branch, Ivan Skarić, has criticised the City of Ploče for organising an exhibition by an artist whose name is mentioned in the testimonies of Morin camp prisoners. This is about Dr. Dragan Pešurić, a Montenegrin artist whose name is listed among the officers and soldiers of the JNA in the Morin camp.
The controversial exhibition was to take place as part of the international scientific and artistic event ILIRIKON 2026, which is taking place in Ploče this year and brings together about a hundred participants from several countries. The exhibition is co-organised by the City of Ploče and the Ploče Tourist Board, with the city council, led by the mayor, involved in the organisation and approval of the programme.
The Morin camp was active from 3 October 1991 to 18 August 1992. According to available data, around 292 to 300 Croatian veterans and civilians passed through it, mostly from the Dubrovnik and southern Croatian regions, among them were also Ploče veterans.
The veterans warned the Ministry of Veterans about the event and urged that the exhibition be prevented. The mayor of Ploče, Ivan Marević, who has been in executive office in the city for more than nine years, first as deputy mayor and now as mayor, found himself in the spotlight over the organisation of the event.
Neither Miško Erak, nor the Oblićev Association, nor the City of Ploče, nor the Tourist Board had information linking Dr. Pešurić to the Morin camp. Such information was not included in any publicly available biography available to the organisers. It was only yesterday that serious indications emerged that the person whose name was mentioned in the testimonies of the former prisoners was the same person who was to exhibit at ILIRIKON, after which the check was immediately carried out.
As soon as the information was deemed serious enough, Miško Erak told Dr. Pešurić to remove the pictures and that the exhibition would not take place. Erak, a Croatian veteran, participant in the Homeland War and holder of the Spomenica Olova and the Ploče, spoke about it via Facebook. The goal of ILIRIKON is not only to talk about individual issues, but also about responsibility to the community and the past, according to his address.
