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Two Suspected Russian Agents Among 14 Convicted in Montenegro Coup Plot
nytimes.com
Two Suspected Russian Agents Among 14 Convicted in Montenegro Coup Plot
7-9 minutes
Police officers stand guard on Thursday in front of the High Court in Podgorica, Montenegro, where the 14 defendants were sentenced.CreditBoris Pejovic/EPA, via Shutterstock
Image
Police officers stand guard on Thursday in front of the High Court in Podgorica, Montenegro, where the 14 defendants were sentenced.CreditCreditBoris Pejovic/EPA, via Shutterstock
A court in Montenegro on Thursday found 14 people, including two Russians suspected of being spies, guilty of plotting a coup in 2016 to prevent the tiny Balkan country from joining NATO.
Prosecutors did not directly accuse the Russians of working for Moscow, but the case turned up possible evidence of an operation by the Russian military intelligence agency formerly known as the G.R.U. of using a nerve agent to poison a former Russian spy living in Britain last year and numerous other operations in the West. The agency has also been accused of interfering in the United States election in 2016.
The Russians, who were tried in absentia and are believed to be in Russia, “knowingly tried to terrorize Montenegrins, attack others, threaten and hurt basic constitutional and social structures,” the judge, Susana Mugosa, said on Thursday in court in Podgorica, the capital.
Judge Mugosa sentenced the two, who were referred to throughout the trial by the pseudonyms on their fake passports, Eduard V. Shirokov and Vladimir N. Popov, to 15 and 12 years in prison. It is unlikely they will serve the terms.
Two Montenegrin politicians accused of coordinating with them to disrupt a parliamentary election in October 2016, Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic, were each sentenced to five years in prison. The other sentences ranged from parole to eight years in prison.
The 2016 parliamentary vote in Montenegro, formerly a part of Yugoslavia, was viewed as a referendum on membership in NATO, which had been agreed to but had not yet taken effect. On the eve of the vote, more than 20 Serbian nationalists and others were arrested, and eventually 14 people were accused of plotting to disrupt the election and install an anti-NATO government.
Instead, the governing Democratic Party of Socialists fared well enough to remain in power, and the country joined the alliance in 2017.
Opposition leaders from Montenegro’s Democratic Front, Andrija Mandic, left, and Milan Knezevic, were accused of coordinating with others to disrupt a parliamentary election and were each sentenced to five years in prison.CreditSavo Prelevic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Image
Opposition leaders from Montenegro’s Democratic Front, Andrija Mandic, left, and Milan Knezevic, were accused of coordinating with others to disrupt a parliamentary election and were each sentenced to five years in prison.CreditSavo Prelevic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Often at the heart of those allegations is the ruthless and effective agency formerly called the G.R.U., and now known as the G.U., or Main Directorate. For years it was a black box to foreign governments, but its activities have spilled into the open in recent years with a flurry of operations in the West.
Evidence introduced at the trial showed that the two Russian defendants used crude but effective spycraft, asking one recruit to save a secret number on his cellphone as “taxi for the hotel” and to arrange a clandestine meeting with “an invitation to grab a beer.”
The case roiled politics in Montenegro, which has a population of about 600,000 people. The government called it evidence of a threat to democracy, with critics and defense lawyers saying it was an effort by the president, Milo Djukanovic, to attack domestic political opponents.
People who disputed the Kremlin connection said the evidence showed such bungling that it could not have been a true Russian espionage plot. Money for the coup plot, for example, was wired by Western Union using the headquarters of the G.R.U. in Moscow as the sender’s address.
“If Russia wanted to organize a coup here, they could do it in 20 minutes,” Mr. Knezevic, one of the defendants and head of an opposition party, said in an interview last fall. “Nobody believes in this coup besides the special prosecutor.”
But reckless operations easily unraveled by Western intelligence agencies have been a hallmark of recent G.R.U. activities, and in Montenegro the apparent incompetence of the Russians and those interacting with them did not convince the judge of innocence.
Awakened to the range and recklessness of the G.R.U.’s activities, Western governments are retaliating. In 2018, more than 150 Russian diplomats were expelled from different countries as punishment for the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, England, on a former G.R.U. officer, Sergei V. Skripal. In October, officials in the Netherlands, Britain and the United States accused the agency of a string of cyberattacks against Western institutions.
Montenegrin police officers escorting people suspected of planning armed attacks after the parliamentary vote in Podgorica, Montenegro, in 2016.CreditDarko Vojinovic/Associated Press
Image
Montenegrin police officers escorting people suspected of planning armed attacks after the parliamentary vote in Podgorica, Montenegro, in 2016.CreditDarko Vojinovic/Associated Press
After prosecutors indicted the two Russians in 2017, they released images of their passports, which showed that the photograph of the supposed Mr. Shirokov matched that of a former Russian military attaché to Poland, Eduard Shishmakov, whom the Poles had expelled for spying.
Suspicions of Russian intelligence ties grew last year, after two Russian men, whom the British government called G.R.U. agents, were accused in the nerve agent attack on Mr. Skripal. He and three other people who were exposed to the agent survived, but one woman died.
The two Russians accused in the Skripal case had nine-digit passport numbers that were just three apart, and the “Shirokov” passport in the Montenegro case was separated from one of them by just 26. Bellingcat, a group analyzing open-source information about intelligence activities, pointed to the similar numbers as evidence that they had been obtained by the Russian spy agency.
Mr. Shishmakov plotted the coup with a Serbian nationalist, Sasa Sindjelic, and members of the Democratic Front, an alliance of right-wing parties, prosecutors said. Mr. Sindjelic became a witness for prosecutors and was not charged. After the trial, he recanted his testimony.
The plan was to claim electoral fraud on the day of the voting and seize the Parliament building, Mr. Sindjelic testified. He described precautions like storing a sensitive phone number under a bland listing and using code for meetings, and he said the Russians had given him encrypted telephones and the equivalent of about $200,000 to plan the coup.
“I was giving away money like Santa Claus,” Mr. Sindjelic testified at the trial. He said he had even considered keeping receipts for all the money he was disbursing.
“I asked if people needed to sign a piece of paper confirming they took the money,” Mr. Sindjelic testified.
In this instance, at least, caution prevailed. He said the Russians told him not to.
A version of this article appears in print on May 10, 2019, on Page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: 2 Russians, Believed to Be Agents, Are Among 14 Convicted in Montenegro Coup Plot. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
nytimes.com
Two Suspected Russian Agents Among 14 Convicted in Montenegro Coup Plot
7-9 minutes
Police officers stand guard on Thursday in front of the High Court in Podgorica, Montenegro, where the 14 defendants were sentenced.CreditBoris Pejovic/EPA, via Shutterstock
Image
Police officers stand guard on Thursday in front of the High Court in Podgorica, Montenegro, where the 14 defendants were sentenced.CreditCreditBoris Pejovic/EPA, via Shutterstock
A court in Montenegro on Thursday found 14 people, including two Russians suspected of being spies, guilty of plotting a coup in 2016 to prevent the tiny Balkan country from joining NATO.
Prosecutors did not directly accuse the Russians of working for Moscow, but the case turned up possible evidence of an operation by the Russian military intelligence agency formerly known as the G.R.U. of using a nerve agent to poison a former Russian spy living in Britain last year and numerous other operations in the West. The agency has also been accused of interfering in the United States election in 2016.
The Russians, who were tried in absentia and are believed to be in Russia, “knowingly tried to terrorize Montenegrins, attack others, threaten and hurt basic constitutional and social structures,” the judge, Susana Mugosa, said on Thursday in court in Podgorica, the capital.
Judge Mugosa sentenced the two, who were referred to throughout the trial by the pseudonyms on their fake passports, Eduard V. Shirokov and Vladimir N. Popov, to 15 and 12 years in prison. It is unlikely they will serve the terms.
Two Montenegrin politicians accused of coordinating with them to disrupt a parliamentary election in October 2016, Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic, were each sentenced to five years in prison. The other sentences ranged from parole to eight years in prison.
The 2016 parliamentary vote in Montenegro, formerly a part of Yugoslavia, was viewed as a referendum on membership in NATO, which had been agreed to but had not yet taken effect. On the eve of the vote, more than 20 Serbian nationalists and others were arrested, and eventually 14 people were accused of plotting to disrupt the election and install an anti-NATO government.
Instead, the governing Democratic Party of Socialists fared well enough to remain in power, and the country joined the alliance in 2017.
Opposition leaders from Montenegro’s Democratic Front, Andrija Mandic, left, and Milan Knezevic, were accused of coordinating with others to disrupt a parliamentary election and were each sentenced to five years in prison.CreditSavo Prelevic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Image
Opposition leaders from Montenegro’s Democratic Front, Andrija Mandic, left, and Milan Knezevic, were accused of coordinating with others to disrupt a parliamentary election and were each sentenced to five years in prison.CreditSavo Prelevic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Often at the heart of those allegations is the ruthless and effective agency formerly called the G.R.U., and now known as the G.U., or Main Directorate. For years it was a black box to foreign governments, but its activities have spilled into the open in recent years with a flurry of operations in the West.
Evidence introduced at the trial showed that the two Russian defendants used crude but effective spycraft, asking one recruit to save a secret number on his cellphone as “taxi for the hotel” and to arrange a clandestine meeting with “an invitation to grab a beer.”
The case roiled politics in Montenegro, which has a population of about 600,000 people. The government called it evidence of a threat to democracy, with critics and defense lawyers saying it was an effort by the president, Milo Djukanovic, to attack domestic political opponents.
People who disputed the Kremlin connection said the evidence showed such bungling that it could not have been a true Russian espionage plot. Money for the coup plot, for example, was wired by Western Union using the headquarters of the G.R.U. in Moscow as the sender’s address.
“If Russia wanted to organize a coup here, they could do it in 20 minutes,” Mr. Knezevic, one of the defendants and head of an opposition party, said in an interview last fall. “Nobody believes in this coup besides the special prosecutor.”
But reckless operations easily unraveled by Western intelligence agencies have been a hallmark of recent G.R.U. activities, and in Montenegro the apparent incompetence of the Russians and those interacting with them did not convince the judge of innocence.
Awakened to the range and recklessness of the G.R.U.’s activities, Western governments are retaliating. In 2018, more than 150 Russian diplomats were expelled from different countries as punishment for the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, England, on a former G.R.U. officer, Sergei V. Skripal. In October, officials in the Netherlands, Britain and the United States accused the agency of a string of cyberattacks against Western institutions.
Montenegrin police officers escorting people suspected of planning armed attacks after the parliamentary vote in Podgorica, Montenegro, in 2016.CreditDarko Vojinovic/Associated Press
Image
Montenegrin police officers escorting people suspected of planning armed attacks after the parliamentary vote in Podgorica, Montenegro, in 2016.CreditDarko Vojinovic/Associated Press
After prosecutors indicted the two Russians in 2017, they released images of their passports, which showed that the photograph of the supposed Mr. Shirokov matched that of a former Russian military attaché to Poland, Eduard Shishmakov, whom the Poles had expelled for spying.
Suspicions of Russian intelligence ties grew last year, after two Russian men, whom the British government called G.R.U. agents, were accused in the nerve agent attack on Mr. Skripal. He and three other people who were exposed to the agent survived, but one woman died.
The two Russians accused in the Skripal case had nine-digit passport numbers that were just three apart, and the “Shirokov” passport in the Montenegro case was separated from one of them by just 26. Bellingcat, a group analyzing open-source information about intelligence activities, pointed to the similar numbers as evidence that they had been obtained by the Russian spy agency.
Mr. Shishmakov plotted the coup with a Serbian nationalist, Sasa Sindjelic, and members of the Democratic Front, an alliance of right-wing parties, prosecutors said. Mr. Sindjelic became a witness for prosecutors and was not charged. After the trial, he recanted his testimony.
The plan was to claim electoral fraud on the day of the voting and seize the Parliament building, Mr. Sindjelic testified. He described precautions like storing a sensitive phone number under a bland listing and using code for meetings, and he said the Russians had given him encrypted telephones and the equivalent of about $200,000 to plan the coup.
“I was giving away money like Santa Claus,” Mr. Sindjelic testified at the trial. He said he had even considered keeping receipts for all the money he was disbursing.
“I asked if people needed to sign a piece of paper confirming they took the money,” Mr. Sindjelic testified.
In this instance, at least, caution prevailed. He said the Russians told him not to.
A version of this article appears in print on May 10, 2019, on Page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: 2 Russians, Believed to Be Agents, Are Among 14 Convicted in Montenegro Coup Plot. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
The mighty cucks: why do Trump loyalists want other men to make love to their wives? | Spectator USA
spectator.us
The mighty cucks: why do Trump loyalists want other men to make love to their wives? | Spectator USA
Cockburn
5-7 minutes
Cockburn Internet
Inside the weird world of cucking
Remember when the GOP used to pride itself on being the party of family values? Well, they still do, at least on their official platform: ‘When American families flourish, so too does our country. And every honest American knows that a strong, traditional marriage lies at the heart of each great family.’
But it’s hard to present yourself as the party of marriage and familial stability when the Republican president and so many of his entourage have had such complicated love lives. And it gets even harder when several figures in the Trump orbit have had a penchant for having other men make love to their wives, while they watch.
This is a practice well-established among in seedier worlds than Spectator USA readers inhabit. It is known as ‘cucking’ — and some of Trump’s inner circle seem to be enthusiastic practitioners.
Cockburn reported last year on claims that former campaign manager and current convict Paul Manafort had encouraged his wife to participate in group sex with a series of men as he filmed it, according to leaked text messages between the Manafort daughters.
Another victim of the Mueller inquiry, Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone, was the subject of a 1996 National Enquirer story reporting that he and his wife posted an ad in Local Swing Fever magazine that read: ‘Hot, insatiable lady and her handsome body builder husband, experienced swingers, seek similar couples or exceptional muscular . . . single men.’ Stone confessed to the New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin 10 years ago that it was genuine, saying ‘I’m not guilty of hypocrisy. I’m a libertarian and a libertine.’
Which brings us to national security adviser John Bolton, who was under consideration for a UN role in the second Bush dynasty, First Amendment activist Larry Flynt sought to confirm allegations about the breakdown of his first marriage to Christina Bolton. Flynt’s 2005 statement alleged that ‘Mr Bolton’s first wife, Christina Bolton, was forced to engage in group sex…Mr Flynt has obtained information from numerous sources that Mr Bolton participated in paid visits to Plato’s Retreat, the popular swingers club that operated in New York City in the late 1970s and early 1980s.’ Press accounts at the time indicate that Flynt’s allegations were not taken that seriously but Bolton has never issued a denial.
What is it about sharing wives that might appeal to Trump loyalists? Or perhaps we should ask what is it about President Trump’s modus operandi that might appeal to those who relish being cheated on? There are deep Freudian waters, which Cockburn, an innocent, struggles to navigate. So he sought those with knowledge of the subject to try and find out.
‘Dr 36’ styles himself as a ‘cuckolding consultant’: he tutors men online who want to talk their wives into trying cuckoldry. ‘Cuckolds feel alive by embracing the entirety of the spectrum that is human existence,’ he told Cockburn.
‘Therefore, to be a cuckold isn’t to be weak. To be a cuckold is having enough strength, courage, and security in one’s own sense of identity to be willing to explore temporal death (the death of one’s ego and manhood).’ A compelling case.
Stefani Goerlich is a sex therapist from Detroit. ‘Cuckolds are not aroused necessarily by the idea of their partner having sex with another man so much as they are by the messaging around that sexual encounter: that the other man is providing a degree of pleasure that they can not, that their partner desires the other man more, and that they are inferior to the two who are having sex,’ she explained.
‘The men that seek out cuckolding scenarios are looking for an experience that will make them feel unworthy, incapable of pleasing their partner, and extremely humiliated,’ said Goerlich. This checks out: Cockburn would think anyone working for Trump was seeking feelings of unworthiness, incapability of pleasing and extreme humiliation.
Is there a relationship between working for the world’s most powerful man and this particular kink?
‘Dr 36’ seems to think so: ‘Men in positions of power not only become weary and burned out from the constant demands they feel upon them (demands which they become “addicted” to needing to feel in order to feel alive and successful), but they also need more mental stimulation than the average man in order to feel anything at all.’
‘Many people who hold positions of power in their professional lives get tired of constantly having to be “in charge” and may turn to some form of sexual submission in order to feel powerless and give up that sense of control,’ said Goerlich. Running a Presidential campaign or meeting with Middle East dignitaries could certainly get tiring…
It’s not all about degradation and worthlessness though: there’s another reason why cuckoldry may have its appeals to denizens of Trumpworld. ‘To be cuckolded is to feel alive,’ says ‘Dr 36’ ‘since engaging in cuckolding causes a man to want his partner again with all the intensified feelings about risk and possible denial.’ Maybe that’s the big secret here: the Trump cucks are truly alive, seizing each day as it comes, utterly unafraid of taking risks. Though perhaps some of them (certainly Manafort) may look back and wish they’d been more careful?
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