The Sunday Times - World The Sunday Times May 21, 2006
Sex scandal hurts Montenegro independence bid Maja Dragovic THE prime minister of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, has been hit by a sex scandal involving several members of his party on the eve of the tiny republics possible move towards independence from Serbia, writes Maja Dragovic. Djukanovic, 44, who supports independence, was clearly shaken when accused on live television by his main opponent of covering up the case of Svetlana Cebotarenko, a Moldovan woman smuggled into Montenegro and allegedly forced to have sex with a string of prominent politicians and businessmen. Cebotarenko told the police in 2003 that she had been held in captivity for three years and routinely beaten, burnt, drugged and raped. But she has been helped by a womens rights group to leave the country. Predrag Bulatovic, who has led the campaign to keep Serbia and Montenegro together, held up a letter written to Djukanovic by a former public prosecutor. It warns the prime minister that a trial of those implicated would compromise certain reputations. Djukanovic, who is being investigated by the Italian authorities over allegations of cigarette smuggling in the early 1990s, claimed never to have seen the letter. If somebody wants to visit prostitutes, there is nothing I can do, he said. Montenegrins vote today in a referendum on whether to split with Serbia. The mountainous republic was last independent in 1918 and its relations with Belgrade have been fractious since the collapse of Yugoslavia under Slobodan Milosevic, the former dictator, who died in March. Djukanovic a former stalwart of Milosevics socialist party has re-aligned himself as a pro-western reformer, and has been encouraged by Washington to push for independence. Brussels has been less keen, with Javier Solana, the European Commissions foreign policy chief, insisting on a 55% threshold for independence. Current polls have shown 51% to 56% of the 485,000 voters supporting Djukanovic. Montenegro has a population of 620,000 against Serbias 8m. If it wins the referendum, Djukanovics Democratic Party of Socialists would ratify the vote as early as this week, creating the worlds 193rd state. Lycos iQ - show what you knoW: iq.lycos.co.uk [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Everything you need is one click away. Make Yahoo! your home page now. http://us.click.yahoo.com/AHchtC/4FxNAA/yQLSAA/1dTolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> =============== Group Moderator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] page at http://magazine.sorabia.net for more informations about current situation in Serbia http://www.sorabia.net Slusajte GLAS SORABIJE nas talk internet-radio (Serbian Only) http://radio.sorabia.net Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sorabia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
