Smederevo Threat Case Moves From Social Media Post to High-Tech Crime Prosecutors

Smederevo Threat Case Moves From Social Media Post to High-Tech Crime Prosecutors
A 63-year-old man from Smederevo was arrested on suspicion of threatening police officers, prosecutors and their children after the city’s mayor was detained on Nov. 12. Opposition-aligned reporting identified the suspect as Z.S. and said police detained him for up to 48 hours on suspicion of endangering safety.

The mayor, Jasmina Vojinović, had been arrested along with two other city officials over alleged failures to take environmental-protection measures after the closure of a municipal landfill. According to the same report, investigators suspect that waste was subsequently dumped at an unauthorized site near the city.

The prosecution’s account focused on a Facebook post allegedly published in response to the mayor’s police detention and subsequent remand. Prosecutors said the message contained threats to the lives and physical safety of police personnel, public prosecutors and their family members, and was accompanied by a photograph of a firearm.

After learning of the post, prosecutors ordered a search for the suspect. He was arrested and held for 48 hours before prosecutors asked the court to order detention, citing concerns that he could influence victims or repeat the alleged offense in the short term.

A second account reported that detention was sought after questioning and described the alleged offense as endangering safety. It also said the case would be urgently transferred to the Special Department for High-Tech Crime of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade because of the way it was allegedly carried out.

Smederevo prosecutors said they had taken only urgent measures that could not be delayed, with the stated aim of preventing the threats from being carried out. The court’s decision on detention was not included in the available reports.