Montenegro court acquits all defendants accused of plotting coup; two Russians were involved

The High Court in Podgorica has acquitted the defendants in the case of preparing a coup d'etat during the parliamentary elections in October 2016, Vijesti reports .

The attempted coup became known after the elections in November 2016, when the Montenegrin prosecutor's office announced that a group of "nationalists from Russia" was preparing an assassination attempt on the life of Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.

The investigation named the organizers as Russians Eduard Shishmakov and Vladimir Popov, who, according to their version, wanted to prevent the country from joining NATO and tried to bring the pro-Russian opposition to power.

They were accused of creating a criminal organization with the purpose of committing crimes (Part 1 of Article 401a of the Criminal Code of Montenegro) and terrorism (Article 20, Part 1 of Article 447 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro). Shishmakov was also accused of incitement to commit acts against the constitutional order and security of Montenegro (Part 2 of Article 24 and Part 1 of Article 373). According to the investigation, they gave money and instructions to their accomplices through Serbian nationalist Aleksandar Sindjelic, who eventually became the main witness for the prosecution.

The alleged conspirators included the leaders of the opposition coalition Democratic Front party, Andrija Mandić and Milan Knezevic, as well as the party's translator, Ananije Nikić, who was granted asylum by Russia.

Bellingcat and Insider referred to Vladimir Popov as GRU officer Vladimir Moiseyev. Shishmakov was initially referred to by the Montenegrin authorities as Shirokov, since he traveled to Europe on a fake passport; he was also linked to the GRU.

In 2019, Shishmakova and Popov were sentenced in absentia to 15 and 12 years in prison; other defendants also received real terms.

In 2021, the Montenegrin Court of Appeal overturned the verdict.

Now all the accused have been acquitted by Judge Zoran Radovic. In his explanatory note, as Vijesti writes, he noted that weapons for the rebellion were not imported into the country - "only two Lenovo mobile phones were imported into Montenegro."

Also, according to him, it was not proven that Sindjelic entered Moscow and met with Eduard Shishmakov - according to the response from Russia, he did not go through passport control and did not cross the border, and Mandic's visit to Moscow took place at the invitation of the United Russia party, and "there is nothing conspiratorial about this."

Special prosecutors Zoran Vucinic and Sinisa Milic, as the publication writes, again asked to sentence Shishmakov to 15 years of imprisonment, and Popov to 12. For all other defendants, they asked for 1.5 to 8 years of real imprisonment. Only one defendant was offered a suspended sentence.