A former Montenegrin and Yugoslav top politician, Svetozar Marovic, has pleaded guilty to corruption charges and will serve nearly three years in prison, state television reports.
Quoting a special prosecutor's office, TV RTCG said that Marovic will also have to return 1.2 million euros ($A1.68 million).
The former president of the Montenegrin parliament and the last president of the rump Yugoslavia, Marovic admitted to abusing his political position to create benefits for a criminal group in property deals in Budva, the Adriatic country's main seaside resort.
Though perceived as a country plagued by rampant corruption, Marovic is the first from the Montenegrin political elite to go to prison.
He has been number two in Montenegrin politics for years, behind the recently retired longtime prime minister Milo Djukanovic.
