Thousands March In Anti-Corruption Demonstration Against Montenegro’s Government

An estimated 10,000 activists supported by opposition parties marched through the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, on March 16, calling for the resignations of President Milo Djukanovic, Prime Minister Dusko Markovic, the prosecutor-general, and the management of state-run television. Participants of the fifth street rally known as "97,000 -- Resist!" accuse the president, whose party has been running the country for almost three decades, of presiding over widespread poverty, corruption within his inner circle, the silencing of whistle-blowers, and the curtailing of media and social freedoms. The protests started after banker Dusko Knezevic, a former key ally of Djukanovic, accused him and his ruling Democratic Party of Socialists of shady financial transactions. Djukanovic has denied the allegations, and the authorities in turn accused Knezevic of money laundering and fraud. The banker has fled the country and is sought by Interpol.