Arrest for fake news that Serbia is introducing a 24-hour curfew

(Patria)- Serbian Minister of Interior Nebojša Stefanović called on citizens tonight to listen to state authorities and medical experts, who care about them and provide them with truthful and timely information every day.

"Citizens are provided with information about what is happening, what measures are being taken, what is being planned, in order to prepare them for what awaits them in times of crisis, so that they can organize themselves," Stefanović said for RTS.

He reiterated that a joint session of the two crisis headquarters will be held tomorrow, where new measures will be considered, and each will assess from their own domain which measures will best protect people's lives. "Measures will be adopted, and we have proposed, each from their own domain, those that could affect citizens' lives in the least invasive way," Stefanović said.

Stefanović reminded that a Belgrade resident born in 1986 was arrested, who wrote on Twitter that the state is introducing a 24-hour curfew, and said that he is not the author of that news, but received it from his wife who works in a ministry.

"She is not the author of the news either," Stefanović said, noting that the investigation continues to determine where the news originated. "The state will work seriously and responsibly in this crisis situation and will give people time to prepare," Stefanović said.

"I ask citizens not to cause panic, I ask them not to fall for fake news, not to spread them, but to follow the decisions of the Government and all measures," Stefanović said.

Stefanović said that 3,500 criminal and misdemeanor charges have been filed for violating the curfew, noting that the majority of citizens respect the measures imposed by the state.