The police in Montenegro arrested three priests for violating the ban on public gatherings and quarantine, the Beta news agency reported on Friday.

According to Podgorica daily Pobjeda, Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Montenegro Littoral priest Momcilo Krivokapic was arrested for serving mass in his parish church of St Nicholas in the port of Kotor. The police also arrested his son Nemanja, who is also a priest. The church service was attended by some 20 people.  

The SPC Montenegro Littoral Bishopric said earlier that it would obey the Montenegrin government ban on gatherings as part of efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The Bishopric said that it would adapt its church services to the new situation but Father Krivokapic rejected all warnings, claiming even that no one can get infected during communion.  

Montenegrin media said that the police also arrested father Aleksandar Vukajlovic, a priest in the Djurdjevi Stupovi monastery in the town of Berane and charged him with illegally crossing the Serbia-Montenegro border in order to avoid quarantine. The media said that Vukajlovic was charged as a foreign national.