MONTENEGRO: THREE SENTENCED FOR ATTEMPTED VOTE BUYING
Podogorica, 28 April (AKI) - A court in the Montenegro capital, Podgorica, on Friday sentenced three pro-independence activists for attempting to buy votes in a referendum to be held on 21 May, when Montenegrins will choose whether or not they want to remain part of a union with Serbia.. Former state security official Vasilije Mijovic and Ivan Ivanovic, an activist from the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), each got ten month jail terms, while another DPS activist, Ranko Vucinic, got six months. The resulf of next month's referendum is expected to be very close.
Mijovic and Ivanovic were captured in a secretely shot film on 5 March, offering to pay a 1,580 euro electricity bill to a man named Musan Buskovic in the village of Golubovci, south of Podgorica, if he voted for independence and the dissolution of Montenegro's union with Serbia.
Montenegro's prime minister, Milo Djukanovic, who is spearheading the independence drive, has laughed off accusations that his party was buying votes for independence, saying the film was the work of the Serbian secret services - a claim immediately dismissed by the opposition as “Djukanovic’s wishful thinking.”
never underestimate the resolve of republics who want to get away from serbia....
Serbia favours the continuation of the state union, but Montenegro's population is fairly evenly split on the issue. A survey released on Friday by the Podgorica Centre for Democracy (CEDEM) indicated 87 percent of Montenegro's 475,000 eligible voters would turn out to vote in the referendum, and that 56.3 per cent would opt for independence.
CEDEM said it would make no new surveys in the period running up to the referendum. The European Union has recommended that at least 55 percent of voters need to turn out for the result to be considered valid.
Djukanovic has banned some 300,000 Montenegrins living in Serbia from voting in the referendum. According to the opposition, he has organised a vote buying campaign and is planning to fly in thousands of ethnic Albanians originally from Montenegro and now living in the USA and European countries, to vote for independence.
Montenegro's opposition, which opposes independence, last week uncovered another film reportedly showing Ivanovic attempting to buy votes in the same village, saying he was doing it in the name of the government. The film allegedly shows Ivanovic offering 500 euros to a local DPS official, Aleksandar Leka Cekovic, not to come out and vote against independence. "That’s for you from the government, to treat your children,” Ivanovic is reportedly heard saying.
The film has not yet been aired on TV, but excerpts were published by Podgorica daily Dan.
(Vpr/Aki)
Mijovic and Ivanovic were captured in a secretely shot film on 5 March, offering to pay a 1,580 euro electricity bill to a man named Musan Buskovic in the village of Golubovci, south of Podgorica, if he voted for independence and the dissolution of Montenegro's union with Serbia.
Montenegro's prime minister, Milo Djukanovic, who is spearheading the independence drive, has laughed off accusations that his party was buying votes for independence, saying the film was the work of the Serbian secret services - a claim immediately dismissed by the opposition as “Djukanovic’s wishful thinking.”
never underestimate the resolve of republics who want to get away from serbia....
Serbia favours the continuation of the state union, but Montenegro's population is fairly evenly split on the issue. A survey released on Friday by the Podgorica Centre for Democracy (CEDEM) indicated 87 percent of Montenegro's 475,000 eligible voters would turn out to vote in the referendum, and that 56.3 per cent would opt for independence.
CEDEM said it would make no new surveys in the period running up to the referendum. The European Union has recommended that at least 55 percent of voters need to turn out for the result to be considered valid.
Djukanovic has banned some 300,000 Montenegrins living in Serbia from voting in the referendum. According to the opposition, he has organised a vote buying campaign and is planning to fly in thousands of ethnic Albanians originally from Montenegro and now living in the USA and European countries, to vote for independence.
Montenegro's opposition, which opposes independence, last week uncovered another film reportedly showing Ivanovic attempting to buy votes in the same village, saying he was doing it in the name of the government. The film allegedly shows Ivanovic offering 500 euros to a local DPS official, Aleksandar Leka Cekovic, not to come out and vote against independence. "That’s for you from the government, to treat your children,” Ivanovic is reportedly heard saying.
The film has not yet been aired on TV, but excerpts were published by Podgorica daily Dan.
(Vpr/Aki)
posted by redemption department at 4:06 PM
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