Montenegrin Parliament

Several hundred people gathered in front of Montenegrin parliament building on Wednesday as lawmakers inside passed a motion to strip the leaders of the pro-Russian opposition Democratic Front alliance, MPs Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic, of their immunity from prosecution.

BELGRADE - A Montenegro prosecutor received parliamentary approval yesterday to strip immunity from two opposition leaders who are targeted in the investigation of an alleged coup attempt on 16 October, when general elections were held in the Balkan country.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's party, the DPS, has won the most votes - 41.1 pct - in the parliamentary elections held on Sunday.

The DPS will have 35 seats in the Montenegrin parliament. The opposition parties, meanwhile, will have 40 representatives.

Hundreds of anti-government protestors gathered in front of the Montenegrin parliament on Sunday carrying Montenegrin and Serbian flags and demanding free and fair election.

Montenegro's main opposition alliance, the Democratic Front, said that the protests were organised for those who do not believe that the "captured institutions can achieve something."

The Special Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime in Montenegro ordered the arrest of the former president of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro Svetozar Marovic on Thursday.

Marovic, who chairs the political council of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, was arrested in connection to corruption cases centred on the resort of Budva.

"We congratulate the government and people for this achievement, this is a very good day for Montenegro, a good day for the Western Balkans and the whole alliance, " NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the foreign ministers North-Atlantic Council meeting on Wednesday in Brussels.

The Podgorica government believes that a NATO membership invitation is inevitable at the two-day meeting that starts on Tuesday and has invited dozens of journalists from major Montenegrin media to Brussels to witness the occasion.

An extraordinary session of the Montenegrin parliament on Wednesday will examine opposition claims that police used excess force in the demonstrations that rocked the capital over the weekend.

The Montenegrin parliament's security committee will hold extraordinary session on Tuesday to examine whether police used excessive force at opposition rallies over the weekend.

Police in Montenegro fired tear gas on Saturday to disband hundreds of protesters who have been calling for the government to resign and hold early elections amid allegations of corruption and election fraud.

At least three opposition leaders and several MPs were injured during the violence, which erupted when protesters tried to march toward the parliament headquarters in Podgorica.