29. 05. 2014

3 detained "for causing panic via internet," then released

Belgrade, 29.5.2014. (Tanjug, B92) - The Belgrade police have arrested three persons for spreading false information on social networks about the number of flood causalities in Serbia.

A Belgrade court on Thursday decided to release the suspects. The legal proceedings against them will go ahead.

The three are charged with an attempt to cause panic and disorder, which is a criminal offense, head of the Belgrade police Veselin Milić said earlier.

They claimed that several hundred residents of Obrenovac were killed in the floods, which, as Milić emphasized, is not true.

If put on trial and found guilty, they could be sent to jail for up to five years.

Interior Minister Nebojša Stefanović said on May 23 that 33 dead had been found in the flooded regions, adding that at least 13 had died of drowning.

The number of victims did not change, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić told reporters on Wednesday. Autopsies are underway and the list of all the victims' names will be released soon, along with the information on whether they drowned or died of natural causes, he explained.

Vučić denied the claims about more than 500 missing persons, and stated that the Serbian police have so far received 38 missing person reports related to the floods.