A court in Montenegro has handed five-year jail terms to two pro-Russian opposition politicians, Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević, for trying to topple the government in October 2016.
The court also found 12 others guilty in absentia, including two Russians – alleged GRU secret agents – and several Serbs, including a former police general and an anti-NATO activist.
Prosecutors said the plotters had Kremlin support to assassinate the then-prime minister, Milo Đukanović and block NATO accession. Russia has called the coup inquiry absurd and has denied any involvement.
Before the verdict, Montenegro’s opposition Democratic Front said a conviction of its leaders would risk “irremediably destabilising” the country.
The opposition has decried the prosecution as a “staged political trial” and a government-backed witch-hunt.
The politicians are expected to appeal against the ruling.
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