The CIA ringleader of this group?
"Men recount Montenegro saga; Will appeal conviction in rebellion plot" by Predrag Milic, Associated Press | August 9, 2008
TUZI, Montenegro - Two US citizens convicted in Montenegro of plotting an ethnic Albanian rebellion in the country said in an interview yesterday that they are innocent, and they accused the authorities of torture.
Michigan residents Rrok and Kola Dedvukaj told the Associated Press that their convictions this week in Montenegro and those of 15 other ethnic Albanians were a government "setup."
"I am completely innocent," Rrok Dedvukaj, 49, said in Tuzi, a predominantly ethnic Albanian town east of Podgorica, Montenegro's capital. "I was beaten and humiliated during the arrest" in 2006.
The Dedvukaj cousins and two other US citizens were among those found guilty of planning attacks on state institutions with an aim of carving up an autonomous region for minority Albanians in Montenegro.
A Montenegrin court ruled that the group was gathering weapons and preparing for the rebellion under instructions from their leader, Doda Ljucaj, also a Michigan resident. They were convicted of committing acts against the security of Montenegro and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three months to 6 1/2 years. Rrok and Kola Dedvukaj received prison terms of three years each. Only Ljucaj remains in custody.
The others, including the Dedvukaj cousins, have been temporarily released, and their lawyers said they will appeal. Their passports have been taken, and they have been told to remain in Montenegro until ordered to serve the rest of their prison terms.
"I am still a prisoner here," said Rrok Dedvukaj of Troy, Mich. "I am being followed every single second, wherever I go, whatever I do, whoever I meet." He added, "I came here only to refresh memories of my childhood and that dream was killed by the Montenegrin government."
Gimme a break, will ya?
Kola Dedvukaj, 60, of Farmington Hills, Mich., said: "I am not a terrorist. I have a wife, five kids, eight grandkids in America, and I have never been in jail in my life."
"This was a setup, nothing else," he said.
The plotters were arrested in September 2006, just a few months after the country broke away from Serbia.--more--"
Why do I smell CIA, readers?
