A special
prosecutor investigating an alleged plot to sway last month's election in
Montenegro said on Sunday a group of "Russian nationalists" had
planned to assassinate Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic to get an opposition
party into power.
Montenegro, a
former Yugoslav republic, has been abuzz with conspiracy theories since the
Oct. 19 election when authorities arrested 20 Serb citizens at the border with
Serbia, accused of planning armed attacks against state institutions.
Opposition
parties had said the suspected plot was fabricated and accused Djukanovic of
using the security services to help extend his quarter century of dominance
over Montenegro.
Before the
vote, Djukanovic said Russia was financing the opposition in order to derail
Montenegro's imminent NATO membership. Opposition parties, many also pro-NATO,
deny this.
No opposition
members were available for comment.
"The
organizers of this criminal group were nationalists from Russia whose initial
premise and conclusion was that the government in Montenegro led my Milo
Djukanovic cannot be changed in election and that it should be toppled by
force," Milivoje Katnic, special prosecutor for organized crime, said on
Sunday.
The aim was to
assassinate the prime minister and to help an opposition party take over
parliament, Katnic said. He did not name the party suspected of having been
linked with the group.
"State
authorities revealed that a criminal group had been formed on the territories
of Montenegro, Serbia and Russia with a task to commit an act of
terrorism," he said.
A person who
was a skilled long-distance shot was sought to carry out the assassination,
Katnic said.
His
investigation was carried out in cooperation with Serbian authorities, he said.
Serbia also detained a number of people suspected of having links to the
alleged plot.
Djukanovic,
whose party came out ahead in the election but without a parliamentary
majority, had presented the vote as a chance for Montenegro's 620,000 citizens
to endorse his policy of joining NATO and the EU, instead of pursuing deeper
ties with traditional allies in Serbia and Russia.
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