Journalist Stefan Cvetković found alive

BELA CRKVA, (Patria) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated today that journalist Stefan Cvetković from Bela Crkva was found alive in the wider center of the town and without visible injuries.

In the presence of the Minister of Internal Affairs Nebojša Stefanović and the Director of the Security-Information Agency (BIA) Bratislav Gašić, Vučić told an extraordinary press conference in Belgrade that Cvetković is being questioned by the police and that, as he said, "not a hair on his head is missing," Beta reported, NAP conveys. 

"Almost none of us slept in the previous nights. We worked day and night and were exposed, as a country and I as president, to the fiercest possible attacks. After 30 hours of hard and strenuous work, we have achieved the most serious results. Stefan is in our hands, alive and well. He was found in very good health, without visible injuries," said Vučić. 

He stated that the competent services immediately suspected the version of Stefan Cvetković's disappearance that appeared in some media.

"There was a lot of fake news, some media outlets lied that there was a struggle at the scene of the disappearance. Competent authorities suspect the truthfulness of the claims Cvetković made to the police, but they will be verified," said the Serbian president. 

Minister of Internal Affairs Nebojša Stefanović stated that the good news is that Cvetković was found alive and well, and that it now remains for him to give his statement to the police and explain what happened in the past two days. 

He praised the engagement of between 200 and 300 police officers who worked continuously for the past two days to find the journalist, exchanging information and uncovering new details, which the public could not be immediately informed about so as not to jeopardize the investigation. 

"One thing worries me, and I told the president this, and that is the increasing prevalence of fake news. The spread of fake news influences the formation of a bad atmosphere in society, even though many of these people do not consider that they have done something wrong and that they should bear responsibility. We must, as a society, find a mechanism to resolve this," said Stefanović and appealed to people who spread fake news to ask themselves if they are harming themselves and society.

Journalist Stefan Cvetković from Bela Crkva disappeared on the night between Wednesday and Thursday on Beogradska Street in that town. The police found his parked car with the doors open and the lights on, N1 reminds.

Cvetković was recently working on the case of the murder of the leader of the Civic Initiative SDP Oliver Ivanović, writes the Patria agency.