Albanian terror suspects appear in court in Montenegro

PODGORICA, May 15 – Eighteen ethnic Albanians, including three U.S. citizens, appeared in court in Montenegro Monday on charges that they were planning terrorist attacks and an armed insurgency in the former Yugoslav republic.
The group is accused of preparing an uprising with the aim of carving out an autonomous region in eastern Montenegro, home to a sizable ethnic Albanian community.
It is expected the accused will plead not guilty.
Fourteen were arrested Sept. 10, on the eve of general elections in the tiny Adriatic republic of 620,000 people, where ethnic Albanians account for 7 percent of the population and live mostly in a border area close to Albania. One person was arrested later, while the case against three others has been opened in absentia.
One of the accused, Gjon Dedvukaj, accused police of mistreating him in detention.
There were also three U.S. citizens of ethnic Albanian origin, cousins Kola and Rrok Dedvukaj, and Sokol Ivanaj, among the suspects. They live in Michigan but were arrested while purportedly on vacation in their native Montenegro.
The alleged mastermind of the plot, Doda Ljucaj, an ethnic Albanian born in Montenegro but living in the United States with U.S. citizenship, was arrested last year in Austria. His extradition is expected in the coming months.
If convicted, each of the accused face up to 15 years in jail.