Baka Prase not detained, prosecutors plan criminal complaint
His team claimed masked people took the YouTuber from his apartment. The Higher Public Prosecutor's Office denies it and announces a complaint for causing panic and disorder.
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (VJT) in Belgrade has denied that YouTuber Bogdan Ilic, known as Baka Prase, was detained. A criminal complaint will be filed against him for causing panic and disorder. The trigger was a post on his Instagram profile on November 9 saying that masked people had taken him from his apartment.
What did Baka Prase’s team post on Instagram?
The post was signed “Baka Prase team.” It said Ilic had been taken away at around 6 a.m.:
“Bogdan, Baka was detained today at around 6 a.m. We currently don’t know where he is or how he is. We have an image from the cameras of the masked people who broke into the apartment and took him away, we won’t publish it for now because we are waiting for information. We have not yet received an answer to the lawyer’s inquiry”
So the team spoke of a single camera image, which it chose not to release for the time being. A later post on the same profile said, citing a reply the lawyer had reportedly received: “Bogdan was detained and will be held for 48 hours.” That post linked the detention to Alta Banka and a suspicion of money laundering.
None of these claims was officially confirmed.
What do the prosecutors and police say?
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered the police to check the claims on the ground urgently. The prosecutors said the police had been
“ordered to carry out field checks and take other actions and measures within their jurisdiction.”
A denial followed the checks. According to Blic, as relayed by Mondo, the detention was denied by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime, the Special Department for High-Tech Crime, the First Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Interior Ministry (MUP). Blic learned that none of the institutions had acted against Ilic or issued an order for his arrest.
The prosecutors said Ilic had caused public panic with false information:
“by publishing false information on his Instagram profile he spread panic among the public, a criminal complaint will be filed against him with the Special Department for the Fight Against High-Tech Crime of the VJT in Belgrade for the criminal offense of causing panic and disorder.”
Telegraf has learned unofficially that the claims were checked by the prosecutors and by officers of the Savski Venac police station. According to the same source, Ilic told police he had posted the content because he is filming a clip for his YouTube channel. That has not been confirmed in an official statement, and Ilic himself has not spoken publicly.
What did Ilic’s father say?
Telegraf called Ilic’s father, the priest Nenad Ilic. He said he had seen the post but had not been in touch with his son for several days:
“I’m fine, thank God. I don’t know, I saw this recently, I have no idea, since we haven’t really been in contact lately. He changed his phone, I really don’t know. I don’t remember when we last spoke, we haven’t for a while, a few days. It’s not that we talk and see each other every day. I have no idea what they’re doing, whether it’s some kind of his… how would I know whether it’s serious or not”
He added that he had heard from others that Bogdan had not been arrested, but had no confirmation:
“I heard he wasn’t arrested, some people told me he wasn’t, so then he probably wasn’t, but I really don’t know. That’s Bogdan… I still don’t have any reliable information, but I sincerely hope everything is okay and that it’s some kind of circus”
What happens after the complaint?
Lawyer Radomir Munizaba explained to Blic how the proceedings will unfold:
“The High-Tech Crime Prosecutor’s Office will first gather evidence. They will establish which account the post was written from, whether YouTuber Bogdan Ilic really wrote it, and they will also check whether the profile was perhaps hacked”
According to the portal 24sedam, Ilic did not respond on his platforms after the prosecutors’ statement. The criminal complaint has only been announced, and the question of who wrote the posts remains for the prosecutors to establish.
