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Montenegro acquits all those accused of involvement in the 2016 "coup d'état"

2024-07-12 12:43:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Montenegro acquits all those accused of involvement in the 2016 "coup

The Supreme Court in Podgorica acquitted all persons accused of involvement in a coup attempt in 2016, aimed at preventing Montenegro from joining NATO.

The Chairman of the Council of the Supreme Court in Podgorica, Zoran Radovic, said announcing the acquittal that "there was no evidence that the defendants are guilty of the crimes they are charged with, therefore they are acquitted".

The decision acquitted Russian citizens Eduard Shishmakov and Vladimir Popov, suspected agents of the Russian military intelligence service, GRU, who were charged with organizing and financing a criminal organization with the aim of overthrowing the government of Montenegro.

The Supreme Court also acquitted the leaders of the pro-Russian Democratic Front, the current speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro, Andrija Mandi?, the deputy Milan Knezhevi? and their associate Mihailo ?agjenovi?, as well as the retired general of the Serbian gendarmerie Bratislav Diki?, as well as seven other persons, Serbian citizens.

No one from the Special Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro was present at the hearing announcing the decision.

All the released persons were sentenced to a total of 70 years of imprisonment in 2019, but two years later, the Court of Appeal brought the case back for retrial.

They were accused of planning to take over the country's parliament during the October 2016 parliamentary elections, to kill then-Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and install a pro-Russian leadership.

Russian officials rejected the claims, calling them "absurd".

Montenegro, the small country on the Adriatic Sea that gained independence from Serbia in 2006, became NATO's 29th member in 2017, angering Moscow, which opposes the inclusion of the Balkans in the Western military alliance./ VOA 





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