Gojko Raicevic

All three arrests happened at a time of high tension in Montenegro. All over the country, tens of thousands of people are protesting against the new Law on Freedom of Religion, which parliament passed in the last days of 2019, despite being challenged by most of the opposition and by the Serbian Orthodox Church, the main faith group in the country.

The Montenegrin Culture Ministry said that the country has become the subject of an organised "disinformation campaign" since it adopted controversial legislation on religion which has angered Serbian Orthodox believers.

Police in Montenegro arrested the editors of two local news websites, IN4S and Borba, on suspicion of causing panic and public disorder in connection with reports of an explosion.

Montenegrin website editor Gojko Raicevic was released on Wednesday after being summoned for a police interview for publishing recordings of the telephone conversations of a former ambassador to Russia, Milan Rocen.

After US President Donald Trump signed the NATO accession protocol for Montenegro - removing one of the last remaining obstacles to membership of the alliance - NATO foes in Montenegro are looking to The Netherlands - one of two alliance members which still did not ratify the treaty, along with Spain - to block the process.

Montenegro's Interior Ministry has defended police actions against anti-government protesters last year, saying they acted professionally, lawfully and in a restrained manner, in spite of being directly attacked.