Former CIA officer Joseph Assad visited Montenegro a few days prior to the allegedly Russia-plotted coup attempt and was suspected of assisting the coup organizers in leaving the country in the aftermath, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Assad’s lawyer Vincent Citro denies the ex-operative’s involvement in the coup as well as ties with Russia, the newspaper noted, adding that Assad was in Montenegro to help his friend, who was engaged in managing the state opposition's campaign.
Assad resigned from the CIA in 2015 and started working for a private security company, according to the newspaper.
The Western states, including the United States and Montenegro put the blame for plotting the coup attempt on Russia, without bringing any evidence of that. Moscow has repeatedly refuted the allegations with the Foreign Ministry regarding the claims as aimed at discrediting Russia.
On October 16, 2016, while Montenegro was holding the general election, 20 people were detained and 14 of them arrested for planning to conduct attacks, targeting both civilian population and high-ranking statesmen, and to seize the parliament's building.
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