Nis: Man Arrested for Threatening Gen. Lazarevic

Police in Nis have arrested M. M., a local resident, on suspicion of posting threatening comments on social media directed at retired General Vladimir Lazarevic. According to the Ministry of Interior (MUP), the arrest was carried out on orders from the Special Department for High Tech Crime of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, over suspicion that he committed the criminal offense of endangering safety.

The suspect has been ordered held for up to 48 hours. He will be brought before the competent prosecutor’s office along with a criminal complaint.

What led to the arrest

According to the outlet NisTV, the disputed comment was posted on September 24 at around 11 p.m., under a post by the local broadcaster TV Zona Plus, which had covered Lazarevic’s address to citizens at King Aleksandar Square in Nis earlier that day. The comment, per that report, contained threats of hanging, and a second threatening comment was found under the same post.

Sources differ on when the messages were actually posted. MUP and part of the media, including N1, report that the disputed messages appeared the day before, on September 25. NisTV, on the other hand, ties the post to the day of Lazarevic’s speech itself, September 24.

According to NisTV, police identified the suspect through operational work, after which they searched his apartment and other premises he uses. Electronic devices and a mobile phone, suspected of being used to post the comments, were seized in the process, the outlet reports.

Sources also disagree on the suspect’s age. MUP states that M. M. was born in 1967, while N1, Tanjug and the Gradski portal 018 report that he is 59. Juzne vesti, meanwhile, puts his age at 57.

The case will now proceed under the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade. The charge of endangering safety against M. M. does not imply guilt before a final verdict.