Smederevo Bombings: Suspected Instigator Arrested

The Smederevo Police Department arrested N. G. (20) on August 3 on suspicion that he paid two young men from Belgrade to throw bombs at two hospitality venues and a family house. Five weeks after the attacks, the Smederevo bombings now have a suspect who, according to police, was not at the scene himself.

The two men accused of carrying out the attacks are L. R. (18) and M. K. (20), both arrested earlier. A statement from the Smederevo Police Department says N. G. incited them to obtain the bombs and throw them at the designated targets in exchange for payment, which they did. The arrest was carried out in cooperation with the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Smederevo.

Blast footage and threatening messages to the homeowner

The suspect is not accused only of organizing the attacks. Police suspect he also sent the owner of the targeted house video footage of the bombs going off at his property, along with threatening messages. Because of this, he is also charged with endangering safety.

A search of the suspect’s apartment turned up a small quantity of plant material suspected to be marijuana.

What police are charging him with comes down to three things:

• inciting the two perpetrators to obtain bombs and throw them, in exchange for payment
• the attack on two hospitality venues and a family house in Smederevo
• sending footage of the explosions and threatening messages to the owner of the attacked house

How the case moved from a raft on the Danube to an order behind it

The first part of the story played out on the Danube. According to a police statement from July, the suspect activated and threw two hand grenades at a riverside hospitality venue in the early morning hours of June 26, then threw a third at a nearby nightclub. One of the venues hit was a floating raft restaurant.

Alongside the Smederevo police, officers from the Criminal Police Directorate, the Belgrade Police Department and the Prokuplje Police Department worked to solve that attack. L. R. (18) was arrested on July 16 and is charged with causing general danger and with the illegal production, possession, carrying and trafficking of weapons and explosive materials.

Four days later, on July 20, M. K. (20) was also arrested. He had been on the run for nearly a month before his arrest. We previously covered that stage of the case, in a report on two bombs thrown over two nights and the indictment that followed.

Why the instigator’s arrest matters for the case

Under Serbian criminal law, instigation is a form of complicity. Someone who intentionally induces another person to commit a crime is held liable within the sentencing range prescribed for that crime, not as a minor accomplice on the side. That is why the arrest of a person suspected of paying for the bombings changes the scope of the case going to prosecutors.

It also raises a question that had gone unanswered until now: motive. The perpetrators, according to the suspicion against them, acted for money, so an explanation of why those particular two venues and that house were chosen as targets can only come from whoever picked the targets. The threatening messages sent to the homeowner suggest the address was not a random choice.

What happens next

On order of the higher public prosecutor, the suspect has been remanded for up to 48 hours. After that, he will be brought before the competent prosecutor in Smederevo along with a criminal complaint. Police say measures and actions to establish all the circumstances of the case are continuing.

Until a final verdict, all three men are considered suspects and have not been found guilty of any crime.